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395. 四十二, 天堂的喜乐和幸福
如今鲜有人知道何为天堂, 何为天堂的喜乐. 那些思想这些问题的人对它们的观念如此笼统和粗糙, 以至于几乎等于没有. 从由尘世进入来世的灵人那里, 我能充分获知他们对天堂和天堂的喜乐持有何种观念; 因为当他们如在世时那样独处时, 其思维一如从前. 他们对天堂的喜乐如此无知的原因在于, 那些思想它的人基于属于属世人的外在喜乐形成他们的观点或判断, 不知道何为内在人或属灵人, 因而不知道他的快乐和祝福是何性质. 因此, 即使那些处于属灵或内在快乐的人告诉他们何为天堂的喜乐, 他们也不明白, 因为它不会降至一个陌生的观念, 因而不会进入他们的觉知, 只会成为属世人所弃绝的东西之一. 然而, 人人都能明白, 当人离开他的外在人或属世人时, 他就会进入内在人或属灵人, 因而能看出天堂的喜乐是内在和属灵的, 而非外在和属世的; 它因是内在和属灵的, 故更加纯粹和精妙, 并打动属于灵魂或灵的人之内层. 单单从这些事, 谁都能得出以下结论: 人之快乐的品质取决于其灵之快乐的品质; 相比之下, 身体的快乐, 也就是所谓的“肉体快感”与天堂毫不相干. 当人离开肉体时, 凡在他灵里的, 死后皆与他同在, 因为那时他作为灵活着.
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395. 天國的快樂與幸福
今日罕有人知道何為天國, 何為天國之樂。思想這些問題的人, 往往以其呆板粗俗的觀念而一無所見。通過離開人間進入靈界的人, 我獲得大量的機會去瞭解他們對天國及天國之樂的看法, 因為當他們獨處時(如在世時那樣), 其看法還是和從前一樣。
從他們完全以外在的快樂來作判斷, 可知他們並不瞭解天國之樂。他們不瞭解內在的心靈, 也就不知道內在的幸福和快樂。就算有體驗內在心靈之樂的人告知天國之樂是何感受, 他們也無法接受, 只會淪為格格不入的觀念, 不能進入其理解, 終為屬肉體之人所啟棄。
其實人可以明白, 當我們離開肉體, 就會進入心靈。所以, 人也能明白, 天國之樂是內在心靈之樂, 非外在肉體之樂。既是內在心靈之樂, 自然是更純更妙之樂, 它影響人的內在, 即人的靈魂。由此可見, 人的快樂, 其品質取決於靈魂的快樂。相比之下, 肉體的快樂與天國毫不相干。當人離開肉體以後, 屬於靈魂的將隨其而去。因為彼時, 人將以靈魂的狀態而活。
395. Heavenly Joy and Happiness
Hardly anyone nowadays knows what heaven is or what heavenly joy is. People who think about either subject come up with such pedestrian and crude notions that they scarcely amount to anything at all. I have had a wonderful opportunity to learn from spirits who were coming from this world into the other life what kind of idea they had about heaven and heavenly joy, for when they are left on their own, as they were in the world, they still think the same way.
The reason they do not know about heavenly joy is that people who think about it at all base their judgments on the external joys of the natural person. They do not know what the inner or spiritual person is, so they do not know what that person's pleasure and blessedness are. So even if they were told by people involved in spiritual or inner joy what heavenly joy is and how it feels, they would not be able to grasp it. It would have descended into an unfamiliar concept and therefore not into their perception, so it would have become one of those things that the natural person casts aside.
Everyone is capable of knowing that when we leave our outer or natural person we enter our inner or spiritual one; so we can also know that heavenly pleasure is an inner and spiritual pleasure and not an outer or natural one. Since it is inner and spiritual, it is purer and finer and moves our deeper levels, the levels of our soul or spirit.
We may also conclude from this that the quality of our pleasure follows from the quality of the pleasure of our spirit, and that the pleasures of our bodies, called "the pleasures of the flesh," have nothing to do with heaven by comparison. Whatever is in our spirit when we leave the body remains with us after death, for we then live as human spirits.
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395. HEAVENLY JOY AND HAPPINESS
Hardly anyone at present knows what heaven is or what heavenly joy is. Those who have given any thought to these subjects have had so general and so gross an idea about them as scarcely to amount to anything. From spirits who have come from the world into the other life I have been able to learn fully what idea they had of heaven and heavenly joy; for when left to themselves, as they were in the world, they think as they then did. There is this ignorance about heavenly joy for the reason that those who have thought about it have formed their opinion from the outward joys pertaining to the natural man, and have not known what the internal and spiritual man is, nor in consequence the nature of his delight and blessedness. Therefore, even if they had been told by those in spiritual or inward delight what heavenly joy is, they could have had no comprehension of it, for it would have fallen only into an idea unknown to them, thus not into their perception. It would, therefore, have been among the things that the natural man had rejected. Yet everyone can know that when a man leaves his external or natural man he comes into the internal or spiritual man. Consequently, he can know that heavenly delight is internal and spiritual, not external and natural; and being internal and spiritual, it is more pure and exquisite, and affects the interiors of man which pertain to his soul or spirit. From these things alone, everyone can conclude that his delight is such as the delight of his spirit has previously been and that the delight of the body, which is called the delight of the flesh, is in comparison not heavenly. Also whatever is in the spirit of man when he leaves the body remains after death, since he then lives a man-spirit.
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395. HEAVENLY JOY AND HAPPINESS.
Hardly any one at present knows what heaven is or what heavenly joy is. Those who have given any thought to these subjects have had so general and so gross an idea about them as scarcely to amount to anything. From spirits that have come from the world into the other life I have been able to learn fully what idea they had of heaven and heavenly joy; for when left to themselves, as they were in the world, they think as they then did. There is this ignorance about heavenly joy for the reason that those who have thought about it have formed their opinion from the outward joys pertaining to the natural man, and have not known what the inner and spiritual man is, nor in consequence the nature of his delight and blessedness; and therefore even if they had been told by those who are in spiritual or inward delight what heavenly joy is, would have had no comprehension of it, for it could have fallen only into an idea not yet recognized, thus into no perception; and would therefore have been among the things that the natural man rejects. Yet everyone can understand that when a man leaves his outer or natural man he comes into the inner or spiritual man, and consequently can see that heavenly delight is internal and spiritual, not external and natural; and being internal and spiritual, it is more pure and exquisite, and affects the interiors of man which pertain to his soul or spirit. From these things alone everyone may conclude that his delight is such as the delight of his spirit has previously been and that the delight of the body, which is called the delight of the flesh, is in comparison not heavenly; also that whatever is in the spirit of man when he leaves the body remains after death, since he then lives a man-spirit.
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395. [XLII.] DE GAUDIO ET FELICITATE CAELESTI.
Quid caelum et quid gaudium caeleste, vix aliquis hodie novit. Qui de illo et de hoc cogitaverunt, tam communem et tam crassam ideam de illis conceperunt ut vix sit aliqua. Ex spiritibus, qui e mundo in alteram vitam veniunt, optime scire potui qualem de caelo et de gaudio caelesti habuerunt notionem; nam relicti sibi sicut forent in mundo, cogitant similiter. Causa quod non sciatur quid gaudium caeleste, est quia illi, qui de eo cogitaverunt, ex gaudiis externis, quae sunt naturalis hominis, judicaverunt, nec sciverunt quid internus seu spiritualis homo, ita nec quid ejus jucundum et beatum; quare si ab illis, qui in spirituali seu interno jucundo fuerunt, dictum fuisset, quid et quale gaudium caeleste, non comprehendi potuisset, cecidisset enim in ideam ignotam, ita non in perceptionem, quapropter inter illa fuisset, quae naturalis homo rejecisset. Quisque tamen scire potest, quod homo cum externum seu naturalem hominem relinquit, in internum seu spiritualem veniat; inde sciri potest, quod jucundum caeleste sit jucundum internum et spirituale, non autem externum et naturale; et quia est internum et spirituale, quod sit purius et exquisitius, et quod afficiat interiora hominis, quae sunt ejus animae seu spiritus. Quisque ex his solis concludere potest, quod tale ei jucundum sit, quale fuerat jucundum ejus spiritus; et quod jucundum corporis, quod vocatur jucundum carnis, respective non caeleste sit: quod etiam in spiritu hominis est, cum relinquit corpus, hoc remanet post mortem, nam tunc vivit homo spiritus.