34、⑶死后人仍保留自己的爱。人们知道爱存在，只是不知爱为何物。日常对话告诉我们爱的存在，如人们常说，他爱我，国王爱臣民，臣民爱国王，丈夫爱妻子，母亲爱孩子，孩子爱母亲。还常说，这人或那人爱他的祖国、同胞、邻舍。同样的话还用于人之外的物体上，如他爱此物，爱彼物。尽管爱这个词常挂在嘴上，但鲜有人懂得爱是什么。因为当人深思爱时，却无法在思维中对它形成任何概念，或将它呈于理性之光中，因为它不是光的问题，而是热的问题。人们还声称，爱要么不存在，要么是通过视、听、触，或与他人互动产生并因此驱动他的某种影响。人根本不知道：爱其实就是他的生命，不仅是他整个身体和一切思想的总体生命，而且还是其一切细节的生命。智者通过下面的话能领悟这一点：若拿走爱的情感，人还能有所思，有所为吗？当爱的情感逐渐冷淡时，思维、言语、行为不也随之冷淡吗？当爱的情感逐渐强烈时，它们不也逐渐强烈吗？那么，爱就是人的生命之热，即其呼吸之热。血液的热度及其鲜红的颜色唯源于此。这一切是由天使天堂的太阳产生的，这太阳纯粹是爱。
34、（3）人死后，他的爱保持不变。人们知道爱的存在，但却不知道爱是什么。人们从言语中知道爱的存在。比如说，人们常说他爱我，国王爱他的臣民，臣民爱他们的王，丈夫爱他的妻子，母亲爱她的孩子，反之亦然。同样，这个人或那个人爱他的国家、同胞、邻居。人爱这个东西或者那件东西。
但是尽管爱如此广泛地被提到，却很少有人知道爱是什么。人们对此进行思考时，都无法理解，因为爱不是一种光，而是一种热。人们会认为爱不是什么事物，它只是所见所闻事物的简单的流入，进而影响到人本身。人不知道爱是他生命的本质，不仅是他的躯体，而且是他的思想的本质，是生命每个细胞的本质。
理性的人可以从下列情形中得以理解：没有了爱的冲动，你能思想吗？能有行动吗？是不是当爱冷却时，相应的情感、言语、行为也会冷却呢？
所以，爱是人生命的热量。血液的热量及它鲜红的颜色都来自于此。真正的爱，也就是神圣的太阳之火是它的源泉。
34. (ii) Each person retains his own love after death.
People know about the existence of love, but not what it is. Our common forms of speech tell us that love exists, as when we say that he loves me, the king loves his subjects, the subjects love their king, the husband loves his wife, the mother her children, and they love her. We also talk of one or another as loving his country, his fellow citizens, his neighbour, and the same expression is used of non-personal objects, as in he loves this or that.
But in spite of the universal mention of love in speech, still hardly anyone knows what love is. Since meditation about it cannot form any concept of it in a person's thinking, or bring it into the light of the intellect, because it is not a matter of light, but of heat, he asserts that it is either non-existent, or some influence produced by seeing, hearing and being in a person's company, and so impelling him. He is quite unaware that it is his very life, not just the general vital principle of the whole of his body and of all his thoughts, but the life in every single detail of these. A wise person can grasp this in this way. Suppose we say, 'If you take away the affection of love, can you think of anything? Can you do anything?' Surely to the extent that affection, a part of love, grows cold, so do thought, speech and action, and to the extent that affection grows warm, so do they. Love then is the heat of a person's life, his vital heat, and this alone is the reason blood is hot and also that it is red. These effects arise from the fire of the sun of the heaven of angels, which is unadulterated love.
34. 3. Everyone's own love remains in him after death. People know that love exists, but they do not know what love is. They know that it exists from common conversation. For instance, people say that "he loves me," that a king loves his subjects and the subjects love their king, that a husband loves his wife, and a mother her children, and vice versa, also that this person or that loves his country, his fellow citizens, his neighbor. So, too, with matters abstracted from person, as in saying that one loves this or that thing.
But even though love is so frequently mentioned, nevertheless scarcely anyone knows what love is. Whenever someone meditates on it, he cannot then form for himself any idea in his thought about it, thus he cannot bring it into the light of his understanding, because it is not a matter of light but of warmth. Therefore he says either that love is not anything, or that it is merely some stimulus flowing in through his vision, hearing and social interaction, which thus affects him. He does not know that love is his very life, not only the general life in his whole body and the general life in all his thoughts, but also the life in every single particle of them.
The wise person can perceive this from considering the following proposition: If you take away the impulse of love, can you form any thought? Or can you perform any action? In the measure that the affection belonging to love cools, is it not true that in the same measure thought, speech and action cool? And the warmer the affection grows, the warmer they grow?
Love, therefore, is the warmth in a person's life or his vital heat. The warmth of the blood, and also its redness, have no other origin. The fire of the angelic sun, which is pure love, causes it.
34. 3. Everyone's love remains with him after death. People know that love exists, but they do not know what love is. They can tell that love exists from common expressions, for we say "he loves me,"
"the king loves his subjects," "subjects love the king," "a husband loves his wife and a mother her children," and vice versa, and that this or that person loves his country, his countrymen, and his neighbors. The same goes for impersonal abstractions like "he loves this or that thing."
But although we mention love all the time, hardly anyone knows what love is. People cannot piece together any idea of it through study and therefore cannot place it in the light of knowledge, because it belongs to heat, not light. So when they think it over they pronounce it to be either not anything or else just something that flows in through sight, hearing, and social contact, and stirs you in that way. They are completely unaware that love is actually their life - not just the life that belongs to their whole body and all their thoughts in a general way, but also the life of every single part of them. The way a perceptive person can grasp this is to say, "If you take away the feeling of love can you think about anything, and can you do anything? Thought, speech, and action cool down as the feelings that go with them cool down and heat up as they heat up, don't they?" So love is the heat of a person's life, or his vital heat. The heat of blood and its red color are from nowhere else. What produces this is the fire of the angelic sun, which is pure love.
34. III. THAT HIS OWN LOVE REMAINS WITH EVERY ONE AFTER DEATH. Man knows that love is, but does not know what it is. He knows that love is, from common speech, such as the expressions, he loves me; a king loves his subjects, and the subjects love their king; a husband loves his wife, and a mother her children, and vice versa; also this or that man loves his country, his fellow-citizens, his neighbor. Love is likewise said of things apart from person, as that one loves this thing or that.
But although love is so universal in speech, yet scarcely any one knows what love is. When he reflects upon it, being unable to form any idea of thought about it, and so to set it in the light of the understanding (for the reason that it is not a thing of light but of heat), he says either that it is not anything or that it is merely something flowing in from sight, hearing, and conversation, and thus affecting. It is entirely unknown to him that it is his very life, not only the general life of his whole body and the general life of all his thoughts, but also the life of all the single parts thereof. A wise man can perceive this from the following: If you take away the affection of love, can you think anything? can you do anything? Is it not a fact that, so far as affection, which is of the love, grows cold, the thought, speech, and action also grow cold? and that, so far as it grows warm, these grow warm? Love then, is the heat of man's life, that is, his vital heat; the heat of the blood and its redness are from no other source. What makes all this, is the fire of the angelic sun, which is pure love.
34. (iii) The life-love remains with, every one after death. The world knows that love exists, but hardly what it is. Everyday speech is full of reference to love - we say that others love us, that a king loves his subjects, and they their king, that a husband loves his wife, a mother her children, and the converse; so, too, that such and such men love their country, their fellow-citizens, their neighbors; we even speak of loving this or that thing. And yet, though the word is so generally on the tongue, hardly any one knows what love is. Meditating on love, and finding ourselves unable to form such an idea of thought about it as to bring it into the light of the understanding, because it is not an entity of light but of heat, we say either that it is nothing, or something arising from sight, hearing and association and thus affecting us. We are ignorant that it is our very life, not only the life in general of the body and the mind, but of the least things in each. A wise man perceives this on raising such questions as these: If you take away the affection of love, can you think anything? Or do anything? Do not thought, speech and action cool in the measure that love's affection cools, and do they not grow warm as it does? Love is therefore the heat of human life or man's vital heat. The very warmth and ruddiness of the blood have no other source, the cause being that the heavenly sun, which is pure love, is a fire.
34. (3) That with everyone his own love remains after death. Man knows that there is love, but does not know what love is. He knows that there is love from common speech, in that it is said, this one loves me; the king loves his subjects and the subjects love their king; the husband loves his wife; the mother, her children, and vice versa; also that this or that man loves his country, his fellow-citizens, his neighbor. It is likewise said of things apart from person, that one loves this, or that. But although love is so universal in speech, yet scarcely anyone knows what love is. Because he can form no idea of thought about it when he reflects upon it, and so cannot set it in the light of the understanding (for the reason that it is not a thing of light, but of heat), a man either says that it is nothing, or that it is merely a something flowing in from sight, hearing, and conversation, and thus affecting. It is entirely unknown to him that it is his very life, not only the common life of his whole body, and the common life of all his thoughts, but even the life of all the single things of them. A wise man can perceive it from considerations like this: If you take away the affection of love can you think anything? Can you do anything? In the degree that affection, which is of love, grows cold, do not thought, speech, and action grow cold? And as that grows warm do not these grow warm? Love then is the heat of man's life, or his vital heat. The heat of the blood, and its redness also is from no other source. The fire of the angelic sun, which is pure love, effects this.
34. III: Quod suus Amor apud unumquemvis post mortem maneat. Homo novit, quod Amor sit, sed non novit, quid Amor est; novit quod amor sit ex communi loquela, ut quod dicatur, quod ille me amet, quod Rex amet subditos, et quod subditi ament Regem, quod maritus amet uxorem, et quod mater liberos, et vicissim; tum quod hic et ille amet patriam, concives, proximum: similiter de rebus abstractis a persona, ut quod amet hoc aut illud. Sed tametsi Amor tam universale est in loquelis, usque vix aliquis novit quid Amor; dum meditatur de eo, quia tunc non potest aliquam ideam cogitationis de eo sibi formare, ita non sistere illum in lucem intellectus, ex causa quia non est lucis, sed est caloris, dicit illum vel non esse aliquid, vel solum esse aliquod influens ex visu, auditu, et conversatione, et sic movens; nescit prorsus, quod sit ipsa ejus vita, non modo vita communis totius ejus corporis, et vita communis omnium ejus cogitationum, sed etiam vita omnium singularium eorum: hoc potest sapiens percipere ex hoc, cum dicitur, "si removes affectionem amoris, an potes cogitare aliquid, et an potes agere aliquid; annon quantum frigescit affectio quae est amoris, tantum frigescat cogitatio, loquela et actio, et quantum incalescit, tantum incalescant illae." Est itaque Amor Calor vitae hominis, seu calor vitalis ejus; calor sanguinis, et quoque rubor ejus, non aliunde sunt; Ignis Solis Angelici, qui est purus Amor, hoc facit.