Day: April 2, 2017

The Origin Of Evil

According to most traditional religions, evil originated in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God by ingesting the forbidden fruit.

What is not made clear in current religion doctrine is whether eating the forbidden fruit was a great sin because it challenged a divine dictate or if they had actually eaten something poisonous.

The “big clue” in answering this question is hinted at in Genesis, by Adam and Eve’s being convinced (by the serpent) that they would gain their own knowledge of good and evil and become gods themselves.

Such a false sense of self-importance seems much more grievous than the childlike disobedience of wanting to eat something that was off-limits. Even a parent will put a limit on a child eating candy because it can be lead to future health problems (not because the parent is testing for obedience).

Like all true crimes, transgressions of law need to be qualified by a motive. The motive of Adam and Eve was for power, rather than to expand their desert menu. They desired to place their own importance above that of God’s.

Evil is the reversal of order.

Within the Divine scheme of order we are to place the love of God and the love of the neighbor above our own worldly and temporal needs. However, when we put ourselves first, we turn God’s scheme upside down and on its head. All evil originates from the belief that we are better than others, and that their only value is to serve our needs.

Evil has no fundamental basis in reality. Evil is a contingency and choice.

When we put ourselves above others have we not “swallowed whole” a horrendous idea about ourselves? Under the principle of such a false image of ourselves, do we not seek the sweetness and fruitfulness of being numero uno?

Trees in the Garden of Eden represented belief systems. The Tree of Life represented a belief system based on God’s tenets. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a belief system based on one’s own sagacity and self worth.

The Lord said to judge people by their fruit.

What tree grows inside your heart and mind? What ideas branch out, blossom, and bear fruit from the principles you have chosen in life?

What is the sweetest and delicious thing you could experience in your life?

Posted on July 30, 2008by thegodguy

This entry was posted in god, Inner growth, love, psychology, Reality, religion, spirituality, symbolism, unity and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

 

Chapter XVIII. Man at Birth.

THIS diagram presents

The degrees that are composed of spiritual substances, all of which are from the father,

The parts which are organized of material substances and are from the mother,

The taint of hereditary evil from the father and mother respectively, and

The development of the degrees at birth. *

* note: For the name of each degree of the spiritual mind and each of the natural, see Diagram XIII; this applies to all subsequent diagrams.

Concerning what is from the father and what from the mother, we read-

“The soul which is from the father is the man himself and the body which is from the mother is not man in itself but from him and is only the clothing of the soul woven of such [materials].. are of the natural world. but the soul is of such [substances] as are in the spiritual world. Every 3 man after death lays aside the natural which he carried from his mother, and retains the spiritual which was from the father, together with a certain limbus [an envelop] of the purest [substances] of nature around it.”- TCR 103.

“The soul is from the father and the body from the mother; for the soul is in the seed of the father and is clothed with a body in the mother; or, what is the same, all the spiritual [organism] man has is from the father and all the material [organism] he has, from the mother.” TCR 92.

“There is a difference between what man receives from his father and what he receives from his mother. Man receives from his father all that is internal, his very soul or life is from the father; but he receives from his mother, all that is external. In a word, the interior man or the spirit is from the father but the exterior man or the body is from the mother.”-AC 1815.

“That the inmost of life, which is from the father, is continually flowing in and operating upon the external which is from the mother and endeavoring to make this like itself, even in the womb, may be manifest from sons in that they are born with the inclinations of the father, and sometimes grandchildren and great grandchildren with the inclinations of the grandfather, and the great grandfather; this is because the soul which is from the father continually wills to make the external which is from the mother like itself and an image of itself.” AC 6716

“Nothing is provided in the womb of the mother except a body conceived by and derived from the soul.”-TCR 167.

“Man is born spiritual as to his soul, and is clothed with a natural which makes his material body.”-TCR 583.

“The soul of man that lives after death is his spirit and this is in perfect form a man.”-.DLW 394.

“The mind of man is the man himself; for the first rudiments of the human form, or the human form itself with each and everything of it, is from the beginnings continued out of the brain through the nerves. This is the form into which man comes after death, and which is then called a spirit and an angel, and which is in all perfection a man, but spiritual: the material form, which is added and superinduced in the world, is not a human form from itself but from the former.” – DLW 388.

“The life of every man is from the father and only the clothing is put on in the mother, hence it is that every man has his name from the father and not from the mother.”-A.S. (N.Y. Ed., p. 45; London Ed., p. 52.)

“Since man is not life but a recipient of life it follows that the conception of man from his father is not a conception of life but only of’ the first and purest form receptive of life, to which as a stamen or beginning, substances and matters are successively added in the womb in forms adapted to the reception of life in their order and degree.” DLW 6.

Since the fall, man is the subject of hereditary evil. We read, –
“Man’s inmost [or spirit] is from the father, whereas the exteriors, or those parts which clothe that inmost, are from the mother; each, namely, what he derives from the father and the mother,

      is tainted with hereditary evil.”-AC

4963

      . (Also AC

1902

      ,

895

      .)

“All the evils which man derives from his parents, which are called hereditary evils, reside in his natural and sensual man but not in the spiritual.”-AE 543 [b].

“Man is born into evils of every kind from his parents and these reside in his natural man which of itself is diametrically opposed to the spiritual man” – TCR 574; (also AC 1902.)

The inmost A and the natural body E and F are the most developed at birth and are drawn large to indicate this. The spiritual mind B and the natural mind C are drawn small to indicate that at birth they are advanced but slightly beyond their rudimental state as at conception, requiring years for development to be effected by discrete degrees successively.

The extremes which are the inmost and the natural body are at birth very large in comparison with the intermediates B and C.

By the inmost as an active and the natural body as a reactive all the intermediate degrees are formed out and stored with remains during childhood and thus are prepared for reformation and regeneration in after years.

The whole natural body (all that the infant takes on from nature) consists, as said above, of the limbus and the gross body. The limbus is the higher and mental part and is retained after death, the gross body being rejected. (See Diagrams XV and XVI.)

The spiritual mind B is drawn in white to indicate its purity. There is no taint of ancestral evil in this mind of the child, as there was no evil in the spiritual mind of the father. Into this mind, which is in form or image a heaven, evil cannot enter; yet this mind may be closed and rendered almost inoperative by the reaction against it of the natural mind confirmed in evil as is the case with the wicked. (DLW 270, 261, 432; AE 176, 739.)

The natural mind is drawn dark to indicate the taint of hereditary evil from the father. (DLW 432, 270; D. W. in AE III, 4, and IV.)

The spiritual body being derived from the natural mind and as it were one with it, is also tainted with evil from the father and is drawn in dark to indicate this.

That the spiritual mind, the germ of which is from the father, is free from taint of evil and in heavenly form and order and that the natural mind, the germ of which is also from the father, is tainted since the fall, may be seen in Divine Love and Wisdom 432, and in Divine Wisdom (in AE ) III, 4.

The two higher degrees of “the little brain, in the order and form of heaven” (DLW 432) constitute the spiritual mind and are equivalent to the three planes of that mind (B in this diagram), and are the two degrees of the spiritual mind B in the 2nd form, which illustrates the degrees of the mind as presented inDivine Love and Wisdom 432 and DivineWisdom (in AE ) III,4. These numbers describe the rudiments of the spiritual and natural minds; the inmost A is not mentioned in them though its presence is implied. The two interior degrees in the order and form of heaven are the two degrees B in the 2nd form. The exterior degree which was in opposition to the form of heaven is the natural mind C in the 2nd form, and is equivalent to the three degrees of C in the first form. The natural mind like the other parts is variously described in the Writings-in one degree, in two and in three, according to the purpose in different passages.

The subject in Divine Love and Wisdom 432, and Divine Wisdom (in AE ) III, 4, is the primitive of man which is a spiritual substance not visible in natural light but only in spiritual and is the seed from the father by which conception takes place. The exterior degree mentioned therein does not include the limbus which is composed of natural substances but consists only of that part of the natural mind which is composed of spiritual substances. (See Chapter VIII.)

The inmost, the spiritual and the natural mind, and the spiritual body are formed of spiritual substances, as shown above, and in their strictly initial state as at conception are derived directly from the father, at which time the ultimate parts are more rudimental than the internal parts and especially more rudimental than the inmost or soul proper as this is the first form from which the others proceed.

This diagram shows the development reached at birth, not the form of the initial at conception. We have in part shown the quality of the paternal faculties at the period of birth by their quality at conception. During growth in the womb no change occurs in their hereditary quality though they undergo an important development which as to the spiritual body is very great, but as to the mental faculties less. Whatever growth occurs in these paternal faculties A B C D from conception to birth must be from an incorporation of spiritual substances; growth from natural substances occurs only in the parts from the mother which are the limbus and the gross body.

The evil from the mother inheres of course in the organism drawn directly from her, called in the whole the natural body. The inmost of this body consists of those purest substances of nature which compose the merest external of the natural mind (mentioned in DLW 257.) This is illustrated in Diagram XV at E. In this mental part from the mother the evil from her primarily inheres, tainting thence the gross body. This mental part is the limbus E E in this diagram. To indicate this taint of evil E and F are drawn in dark.

We have already shown, -That the natural mind consists of spiritual substance and at the same time of natural substance,That from its spiritual substance arises thought but not from its natural substance,That the spiritual substance is initially from the father and the natural substance at birth from the mother,That the natural substance appertaining to the mind constitutes after death the cutaneous envelop of the spiritual body,That by such envelop the spiritual body subsists, that is, is preserved permanently in form because the natural is the containing element.And that in the part of the natural mind composed of natural substances (the limbus in this diagram) and not in any part of the mind composed of spiritual substances, the taint of maternal evil resides.

To see that evil can inhere in these substances we must reflect that they are organized into a mental form constituting the merest external part of the natural mind conjoined to the spiritual part of it which spiritual part thinks and wills immediately within the natural, so that while this merest external is itself incapable of thought still it is the lowest and active seat of thought during life in the world. The thought is necessarily qualified by the state of this external, and is brought into act by the gross body. That evil does inhere in the part of the natural mind composed of natural substances (the maternal part) as well as in the part composed of spiritual substances, may be seen in Divine Love and Wisdom 270. This external is the seat of the external memory or memory of the body (AE 193[a]) both before and after death, though after death it is quiescent. This memory composed of material substances is usually called natural, exterior, or corporeal (as in HH 461; AC 2469-2494, and AE 569 [a], 832), but in Spiritual Diary 2752, it is called the outmost or material memory. When this memory quiesces after death, the internal memory formed of spiritual substances and appertaining to that part of the mind which is from the father comes into conscious activity.

This external from the mother is the residence of all impressions and knowledge received through the senses whether gained by physical and sensible experience or by instruction in science, morals and religion, and also the residence of all conscious emotions arising from within. In this part only can man by introspection become conscious of his evils and falsities for here only can they be distinctly perceived. This is that ultimate or external in which man is together with the LORD and wherein he must directly cooperate with the LORD; the LORD alone working in the interiors. (DP 119, 120.) What lies further in is not perceptible except by outflow into this plane: only in this outer plane can be clearly seen the light of spiritual truth, and distinctly felt the warmth of celestial love.

In this external part of the natural mind every maternal inclination whether evil or good has its primal abode. Here too reside all mental bias, faculty, disposition and ability, from the mother. These however are subject to more or less modification and even practical nullification from the various conditions of the gross body.

Not only does the body from the mother partake of her quality good or bad but there are always induced upon its interior and often upon its exteriors the quality and likeness of the father also. This is done in the construction of the body from the substances furnished by the mother during gestation. Results produced after birth are not here presented. The infusion of the father’s quality into this maternal structure is in part accomplished by the influence of the soul of the child which was from the father and consequently fully imbued with his quality. This soul sits mistress in the formation of that natural human which it is assuming from the mother and weaves more or less fully the materials furnished by her into its own form and quality. It is according to order that the active, here the spirit, shall form the reactive, here the body, as fully as may he after its own nature and gift it with its own quality that it may perform its intended use. This agrees with Arcana Coelestia AC 10125 where the meaning is not that the body is composed of spiritual substances from the soul but that the soul forms the natural substance from the mother into a body resembling itself (See also AC 6716, 10823; TCR 82, 103; DLW 388.)

According to the above order the spirit of the child first forms those purest substances of nature from the mother into the enveloping part or limbus of the natural mind, that it may use that covering as the lowest seat of its thought and the medium by which it may flow into the gross body; and it also forms this body of grosser and grossest substances of nature and places therein the five senses as organs for sensing the outer world, acquiring knowledge and expressing its own feeling and thought. Although the soul of the child measurably imparts its own quality to that natural external it does not remove the quality of the mother. (TCR 103; AC 6716.

We said the quality of the father is imparted to the body of the child chiefly by the child’s own soul, but the quality of the father is communicated to the body of the child by being first appropriated by the mother and by her transmitted to the child in the substances and forms furnished by her. In some cases (and there will be more as the Church advances) the father’s likeness flows in each globule of the mother’s nervous fluid and his image in every drop of her blood. Something of this exists in most instances if not in all. (Marriage page 9, item 22; Latin Edition, p 7. AE 1004.) Still whatever of paternal quality thus reaches the child’s body is first materialised and imparted as the mother’s also. Conversely, the father may appropriate the sphere of the mother and impart it as his own to the spirit of the child and thence to its body.

Errors Regarding the Child’s Inheritance from the Mother.BECAUSE the external acquired by the first rational is called the maternal rational it has been inferred that the rational as an organic faculty is from the mother. Not so. That faculty before regeneration, and with the LORD before Glorification, is called maternal in consequence of clothing itself with an external acquired by means of the maternal but not from it. Moreover the above inference conflicts with the teaching, “that all the spiritual which man has is from the father” (TCR 92 and 103) and that the maternal rational does not exist at birth but is acquired by instruction and sensuals of various kinds. (AC 1893-1895.)

In regard to the maternal rational (called the first rational and represented by Ishmael) it should be recollected that this rational is formed by truths obscured by appearances which appearances are to be dispersed during regeneration; this is the rejection of the maternal rational. From Arcana Coelestia AC 2654, 3207, 2557, we see that this rational is called maternal only because it is mediately, not directly, from the mother.

Another misconception is that because the child inherits somewhat of inclination and talent from the mother, it derives from her some part of its spiritual organism also. Not so. The child inherits no part of its spiritual organism from the mother. These maternal characteristics inhere in the mental part of the natural derived from the mother. (See Diagram XV.)

That the soul is from the father and the body from the mother rightly understood involves no disparagement of the functions of the mother. That no disparagement is involved appears from the following:

I. The maternal part of the natural mind is the seat of all the mental states inherited from the mother and is the seat of the natural memory (AE 193), and during life is the active seat of all the degrees derived from the father. Although this maternal part of the natural mind becomes quiescent after death it still servestwo great and indispensable uses to eternity. (1) It is an envelop of the spirit holding its structure in form and its state entire, thus preventing its disintegration through the volatility of its spiritual substances. (2) It preserves the state of man after death as determined by his ruling end, changeless to eternity, securing to the enduring heaven and preventing the evil from sinking good an ever into deeper hells.

II. Without the natural furnished by the mother there could be no propagation of the human race, thus no heaven of angels which is the Divine end of creation.

III. Although the spiritual faculties are not from the mother, they must for regeneration acquire an external, from various knowledges and truths, to embody themselves; and these are obtainable only by means of the natural from the mother.

Let no one then undervalue the function of the mother in comparison with that of the father, his impossible without hers, hers eternally conserving the fruit of h

Previous: Chapter XVII. All the Degrees in Trines. Up: Discrete Degrees Next: Supplement.

 

 

Love and Science

When the Lord stated in the Apostolic Gospels that we are to “love God and the neighbor,” He was not just responding to a question from a Pharisee who wanted to know what was the greatest commandment. He was unifying religion with science!

How can that be? Well, love can act as a powerful antibody. Love can promote physical health and psychological wellbeing. Therefore, love is more than a romantic notion or an act of goodness. Love is of scientific importance to science itself.

Research has shown that love somehow creates chemicals that strengthen the immune system. Laughing, singing, being around friends, marriage, and even going to church creates positive emotional states that can lower blood pressure, reduce stress, and generally help people to liver longer, fuller lives.

Brain scientists are starting to look at neurotransmitters (amino acids, hormones, and peptides) as “molecules of emotion.” There is even a book out with that exact title and written by a professor of biophysics. Beyond that, emotion is now being looked at as being a key component of human cognitive function. It is believed by some that emotions (derivatives of love) are what focus our attention and arrange human experience into coherent and personal belief systems. (This is non-physical, self-organization, folks!)

Pioneering neuroscientists suspect that the way to create a comprehensive theory of the human cognitive architecture and its neural substrates is through the framework of a multi-dimensional model of emotion.

This kind of framework is exactly what Emanuel Swedenborg (who was the father of neuron theory) had accomplished over 250 years ago! He developed a multi-dimensional model of the human brain (and mind) consisting of layered networks, each under the agency of some distinct principle of love – from corporeal or worldly love to spiritual love. This hierarchical arrangement showed that the human brain and mind had its neural basis in a non-physical, theological realm.

I predict that more and more scientists (heck, theologians too) will begin to look at the universe and nature not just from a computational or intellectual perspective, but from a volitional perspective as well. (There is already a philosophical theory out there that defines substance as a dispositional property or endeavor – called dispositional essentialism.)

Love is the ultimate disposition. That is why I have chosen to write a book that will attempt to show that love is the fundamental principle behind gravitational order and self-organization in the universe. All structure and existence is relationship. In other words, love is the reason why the universe consists of laws that are fine-tuned to be bio-friendly.

Love is the secret to the principle of agency in the universe. And according to the Lord’s words in Scripture, true love is also the key to eternal life and happiness.

Posted on July 27, 2008by thegodguy

This entry was posted in god, Inner growth, Life after death, love, metaphysics, psychology, Reality, religion, science, spirituality, unity and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Light and Darkness

light and darkRecently I have been reflecting on the contrast between light and darkness. At this time of year when in our northern hemisphere the days are getting shorter it focuses my awareness on light or the lack of it.

This interaction of light and darkness is present right from the beginning of the Bible. In the first day of creation light is separated from the darkness. This divine allegory of the spiritual creation of humankind begins with the coming of light or the enlightenment
of inner darkness. This dynamic is echoed throughout the Bible and in particular in the Christmas story with its theme of light coming into the darkness.

John’s Gospel reminds us of our spiritual creation when it starts with the words In the beginning was the Word. In John 1:5 we read

“the light shines in the darkness”.

This particularly struck me when I read it again recently; the light shines in the darkness. The presence of the darkness highlights or intensifies the presence of light. It reminds me of other contrasts between clarity and confusion, the unknown and the known or wisdom and ignorance. The light of truth shows up the darkness of ignorance, illusion and lack of loving kindness within the human spirit, mind and heart.

Our human understanding is limited to see just what is around us or just ahead. What the future might bring lies in the darkness and is unknown. Swedenborg expresses this in the following quotation:

“The first step is taken when we begin to realise that goodness and truth are something transcendent. People who focus exclusively on externals do not even know what is good or what is true; everything connected with self-love and love of worldly advantages they consider good, and anything that promotes those two loves they consider true. They are unaware that such “goodness” is evil and such “truth” false. When we are conceived anew, however, we first begin to be aware that our “good” is not good. And as we advance further into the light, it dawns on us that the Lord exists and that he is goodness and truth itself.”  (Secrets of Heaven: 20)

However, Divine Light raises up human reason into a greater light, bringing a higher perspective. And in its wake comes a deeper appreciation of the quality of Divine Love and the Divine Purpose for all humankind to be in loving connection that is The Way. Perhaps it is possible to see the experience of both light and darkness as a necessary part of the dance that is spiritual development. We are called to be children of the light and allow the light to be born in us and shine forth.

Copyright 2013 Helen Brown

Information technology – Toxic to spiritual life?

Information technologyWith the growth of information technology, more of everyday life activity involves our interaction with computers and smart phones rather than face to face with people. Examples are doing banking, shopping, work assignments, and social interaction. The question arises as to whether all this involvement with computers, and mobile phones may be reducing our ability to create community and make commitments? Are we using information technology wisely?

Information technology and the global news network

Information is conveyed from one end of the world to the other swiftly within an instant transmitted through information technology on the internet and television. So we are constantly  aware of another bit of bad news which is happening somewhere or other. Is the sheer volume of news in danger of overwhelming us so that although we are more aware of the headlines we are no more deeply informed about the plight of human beings?

Information technology and social communication

We can now chat endlessly on our mobile phones. And through social media like Facebook and Twitter, as well as text messages and emails, we are able to read messages wherever we are and whatever we are doing.

A lot of the social information being communicated is relatively trivial. Yet more and more, there is an expectation that we stay constantly connected. You may have had people become indignant or suspicious when you’ve turned off your mobile  phone, or not responded to texts or emails at least twice a day to suit them.

As a consequence you may be on constant call from those such as work colleagues and family members who can make demands on you  without any time you can really call your own. It has become increasingly acceptable for employers to expect employees to be reachable ’24/7.’ Is heavy use of this technology adding to fatigue and stress in young adults?

How do you use information technology?

It seems that school children these days are spending more time on social media than on their academic work or talking to their siblings or parents. How long can adults go without calling or writing to others and giving them an update on their life? How empty would your world become by filling more time with chit-chat. What would you be missing out on?

Information technology and spiritual well-being

It is good when you connect with others in a meaningful way. But shouldn’t you also be looking for ways you  can ‘disconnect’ from the minutiae of the world which is distracting you from the routine joys and sorrows of life alone in our own skin?

Sometimes it seems that just being oneself and doing our own thing can be boring. Having someone distract us however superficially from the tasks we are set can feel like a welcome relief. Or daily work can feel like drudgery and we seem to yearn for relief through a little entertainment, gossip, or even some nonsense that can take our mind off what we are supposed to be thinking about. Or where we are can feel lonely because we haven’t found a way of relating in any sort of satisfying way to the people around us — so we resort to listening to someone over the phone even if they are many miles away.

Is it not better to face up to the challenges where we are, face them bravely and find the peace and contentment that comes from being mindful of what useful things we can in the here and now?

Love of the world

The spiritual philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg maintained that one thing that blocks our reception of the spiritual — for example the experience of peace and contentment — is what he called ‘love of the world’. What he was getting at is being preoccupied with the outer side of life. In other words putting first things like money, reputation, social status, being popular, the material trappings. Buddhists refer to the problem of being attached to the things of the world. The external side of life can distract us from allowing the spiritual side of our minds to open up.  What is superficial can get in the way of what is deeply important.

You don’t have to go into the desert and give up all the comforts of modern living in order to find the spiritual. Religious people have said being alone with God is an essential part of  their faith. Some people have gone on spiritual retreats and it has worked for them but you don’t have to go into a monastery with a vow of silence to enter into a state of meditation, reflection or prayer. You just need a brief time of privacy undisturbed by others in your life.

Copyright 2013 Stephen Russell-Lacy

Author of  Heart, Head & Hands  Swedenborg’s perspective on emotional problems