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Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings

This list of Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings was originally compiled by W. C. Henderson in 1960 but has since been updated.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #665

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665. After this a voice was heard from heaven coming from the angels who were immediately above us. 'Come up here,' it said, 'and we will question one of you, who is still as to the body in the natural world, what people know about conscience.'

We went up and, after we were admitted, some wise men came to meet us. They asked me what was known about conscience in my world.

'Please let us go down,' I replied, 'and summon a number of both laity and clergy who are believed to be wise. We will stand vertically beneath you and question them, so you will hear with your own ears what answers they give.'

This was done, and one of the elect took a trumpet and sounded it to the south, the north, the east and the west. Then after a little while such a crowd gathered that they nearly filled the space of a furlong. But the angels overhead arranged them all into four groups; one of them consisted of politicians, the second of scholars, the third of medical men, the fourth of clergy.

When they were so arranged, we said to them: 'Forgive us for summoning you. The reason is that the angels who are exactly above us are most anxious to know what you thought when you were in your previous world about conscience; and so what you still think about it, since you retain your previous ideas on such matters. It has been reported to the angels that knowledge about conscience is one of the subjects the knowledge of which has been lost in the world.'

[2] After this we began by turning first to the group consisting of politicians. We asked them to say, if they would, what they had thought in their hearts and so continued to think about conscience. They replied to this one after the other. The gist of their replies collectively was that all they knew of conscience was that it was knowing in oneself, and so being conscious of what one intended, thought, did and said.

But we told them: We did not ask about the etymology of the word "conscience," but what conscience is.'

'What is conscience,' was their reply, 'but anxiety arising from fear of future danger to rank or wealth, and to one's reputation as the result of their loss? That anxiety is dispelled by feasts and a few glasses of fine wine, and by conversations about the sports of Venus and her son 1 .'

[3] 'You are joking,' we said. 'Please tell us whether any of you has experienced any anxiety from other sources.'

'Where else could it be from?' they replied. 'Isn't the whole world like a stage on which each plays his own scene, as comic actors do on their stage? We baffle and get the better of anyone who comes along by means of his own longings, some by making fools of them, some by flattery, some by trickery, some by the pretence of friendship, some by a front of sincerity, and some by our skill as politicians in dangling inducements before them. This gives us no mental anxiety, but on the contrary joviality and gladness, which we fill our lungs with and breathe out silently but to the full. We have indeed heard from some of our colleagues that they are from time to time subject to anxiety and distress, as if affecting the heart and chest, thereby occasioning a sort of cramping of the mind. But on consulting the apothecaries about these, they were told that they are caused by a melancholy humour arising from undigested food in the stomach or from a morbid condition of the spleen. But in some of these cases we have heard of them being restored to their previous joviality by the use of medicines.'

[4] After hearing this we turned to the group composed of scholars, which included a number of experts on physics. We addressed them and said: 'You have studied the sciences and consequently have been thought to be oracles of wisdom; please tell us what conscience is.'

'What sort of a question is this?' they replied. 'We have indeed heard that some people suffer from sadness, grief and anxiety, which affect not only the gastric regions of the body, but also the seat of the mind. For we believe that the two brains are its seat. Since these are composed of adjacent fibres, there is an acrid humour which plucks, bites and gnaws at those fibres, and so contracts the sphere of thoughts in the mind that it is unable to relax to enjoy any of the diversions that come from variety. So it comes about that the person concentrates on only one topic, and this destroys the tensile properties and elasticity of the fibres, thus causing them to become resistant and rigid. This leads to the irregular movement of the animal spirits, known to the medical profession as ataxy, and also to the failure of function which is called loss of consciousness. In short, the mind then lies as if beset by hostile squadrons, and can no more turn one way or the other than a wheel fastened on with nails or a ship stuck fast on a sand-bank. Such distress of mind and consequently constriction of the chest afflicts those whose ruling love suffers loss. If this love is attacked, the fibres of the brain contract, and this contraction prevents the mind from moving freely and seeking its pleasures in various forms. When these people suffer this crisis, each depending upon his temperament, they are subject to delusions of various kinds, dementia and delirium, and some suffer from religious brainstorms, which they call the pangs of conscience.'

[5] After this we turned to the third group composed of medical men, including surgeons and apothecaries. 'Perhaps you,' we said, 'know what conscience is. Is it not a savage pain which grips the head and the substance of the heart, and so the subjacent epigastric and hypogastric regions; or is it something else?'

'Conscience,' they replied, 'is nothing but a pain of that sort. We are better placed than others to know its origins, for there are accidental diseases which attack the organic substances of the body, and of the head too, consequently also the mind, since the mind sits amid the organs of the brain like a spider in the centre of the threads composing its web, and it runs out and back in similar fashion along these. We call these diseases organic, and the ones which recur time and again chronic. But pain of this sort, described to us by invalids as the pain of conscience, is nothing but a hypochondriac disease, which robs primarily the spleen and secondarily the pancreas and the mesentery of their proper functions. From this arise diseases of the stomach, which result in unhealthiness of the humours; for compression occurs around the orifice of the stomach, which is called heartburn. From this arise humours saturated with black, yellow or green bile, which cause blockage of the smallest blood vessels, what are called the capillaries. This leads to cachexy, atrophy and symphysis, as well as false pneumonia due to sluggish catarrh, and ichorous lymph causing corrosion through the whole mass of blood. Similar results ensue from the emission of pus into the blood and its serum as the result of empyemas, abscesses and apostems in the body. When this blood rises through the carotid arteries into the head, it abrades, corrodes and gnaws the medullary, cortical and meningeal substances of the brain, so provoking the pains which are called those of conscience. 2

[6] On hearing this we told them: 'You speak the language of Hippocrates and Galen 3 . This is Greek to us, we don't understand. We did not ask about these diseases, but about conscience, a purely mental matter.'

'The diseases of the mind,' they said, 'and those of the head are the same; and those of the head rise up from the body. For they hang together like two floors of one house connected by a staircase permitting one to go up or down. We know therefore that mental states are indissolubly dependent upon the state of the body. But we have cured those heavinesses or headaches, which we grasp are what you mean by conscience, in some cases by plasters or blistering ointments, in some cases by infusions or emulsions, in some cases by herbal remedies and by anodynes.

[7] So when we heard more of the same from them we turned away and addressed the clergy. 'You,' we said, 'know what conscience is. So tell us and instruct the audience.'

'What conscience is,' they answered, 'is something we know and do not know. We have believed that it is contrition, which precedes election, that is, the moment at which a person is endowed with faith, by means of which he gets a new heart and a new spirit and is regenerated. But we have noticed that few people achieve that contrition; in some cases there is only fear and so anxiety about hell-fire, and hardly anyone worries about his sins and the wrath of God he deserves as a result. But we as confessors have cured them by the Gospel, telling them that Christ by suffering crucifixion removed the sentence of damnation, and so put out hell-fire, opening heaven to all blessed with faith, to which the imputation of the merit of the Son of God is attached. In addition there are people with consciences who belong to various religions, true as well as erroneous, who are scrupulous in matters relating to salvation, not only in essentials, but also in matters of form or of no consequence. Thus, as we said before, we know that conscience exists, but what it is and what true conscience, a wholly spiritual matter, is like, we do not know.'

Footnotes:

1. i.e. Cupid.

2. This passage is full of technical jargon in the original Latin.

3. The leading ancient Greek writers on medical subjects.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #160

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160. The second experience.

I was once walking in the company of angels in the world of spirits. This lies half-way between heaven and hell, and it is where everyone comes first after death; here the good are prepared for heaven, the wicked for hell. I discussed a number of topics with the angels, one of which was that in the world where I am bodily there are to be seen at night-time countless stars of various sizes, and each of these is a sun, emitting only light to the solar system; 'and on seeing,' I said, 'that stars are to be seen in your world too, I hazarded the guess that they are as numerous as in the world where I am.'

The angels were delighted at this remark, and said that they might well be as numerous, since each community in heaven appears at times to those who are beneath shining like a star. The communities of heaven are countless, all arranged as their affections for the love of good vary; these affections are in God infinite, and under His influence therefore countless. Since these were foreseen before creation, I imagine that to agree with that number the same number of stars was provided or created in the world where human beings were to live in natural, material bodies.

[2] While we were talking like this, I saw in the north a paved road, so crowded with spirits there was hardly room to set foot between two of them. I told the angels that I had seen this road previously, with spirits passing along it in as close order as squadrons of troops; and that I had been told that this is the road along which all pass when they leave the natural world. The reason why it is crowded with such numbers of spirits is that tens of thousands of people die every week, and all after death pass into this world.

The angels went on to say: 'The road ends in the middle of this world, where we now are. The reason why it ends in the middle is that on the eastern side are the communities dedicated to love to God and towards the neighbour; on the left, towards the west, are the communities composed of those who oppose these loves. In front, to the south, are communities composed of those who are above average intelligence. That is why recent arrivals from the natural world come here first. When here they are at first outwardly exactly as they had been most recently in their previous world; but later on they are step by step brought into their inward state, and submitted to examination of their nature. After this the good are transferred to their places in heaven, the wicked to theirs in hell.'

[3] We halted at the centre, where the access road ended, and said: 'Let us wait here a little while and talk with some of the newcomers.' We selected a dozen of those arriving; and since they had all just come from the natural world, they did not know that they were not still there. We asked them their opinions about heaven and hell and life after death.

One of them replied as follows: 'Our priestly order has taught me to believe that we shall live after death, and that there are such places as heaven and hell. Consequently I have always believed that those who lead decent lives go to heaven; and since everyone lives a decent life, no one goes to hell. So hell is just a story made up by the clergy to keep people from leading wicked lives. What difference does it make whether I hold one opinion or another about God? Thought is only like froth or a bubble on the surface of water, which bursts and disappears.'

A second next to him said: 'My belief is that heaven and hell exist, and that God rules heaven and the devil rules hell. Since they are enemies and thus take opposite views, one calls evil what the other calls good. Decent people are hypocrites who can make evil appear good and good evil, so they stand on either side. What difference does it make then whether I am with one lord or the other, so long as he supports me? People take just as much pleasure in evil as in good.'

[4] A third, next to the second, said: 'How does it concern me whether I believe in heaven and hell, since no one has ever come back from there to tell me? If everyone lived on after death, surely one out of all that vast number would have come back and told us?'

The next, the fourth, said: 'I will tell you why no one has come back and told us. It is because when a person has breathed out his soul and died, then he either becomes a ghost which is quickly dissolved, or he is like the breath from the mouth, which is just air. How can anyone like that come back or talk to anyone?'

The fifth took up the tale: 'My friends,' he said, 'wait until the day of the Last judgment, for then all will return to their bodies, and you will see them and talk with them, and then each will be able to tell the others what happened to him.'

[5] The sixth, who stood opposite, said with a smile: 'How can a spirit which is just air return to a body which has been eaten by worms, or to a skeleton burnt up by the sun and reduced to dust? And how can an Egyptian, who has been mummified, and then mixed by a druggist into his extracts, emulsions, potions and pills, come back and tell anything? So if that is your belief, go on waiting for that last day, but you will wait for ever and ever in vain.'

Then the seventh said: 'If I believed in heaven and hell and so in life after death, I should believe that birds and animals would live on too; some of them are as decent and rational as human beings. But they say that animals have no life after death, so I say that people do not either. The cases are identical, one follows from the other. What is man but an animal?'

The eighth, who was standing behind him, came forward and said: 'Believe in heaven if you like, but I do not believe in hell. God is omnipotent, isn't He, and can save everyone?'

[6] Then the ninth shook his hand and said: 'God is not only omnipotent, but also gracious. He could not send anyone to everlasting fire; and if there is anyone there, He would take him out and raise him up.'

The tenth left his place and hurried to the middle saying: 'Neither do I believe in hell. Did not God send His Son, and did not He make expiation and take away the sins of the whole world? What power then has the devil against that? And if he has none, what then becomes of hell?'

The eleventh, who was a priest, was angry to hear this and said: 'Don't you know that those who have acquired faith, on which Christ's merit is imprinted, are saved, and that those whom God chooses acquire that faith? So the choice is at the discretion of the Almighty, and it depends upon His judgment who are worthy. Can anyone dispute this?'

The twelfth, who was a politician, kept silence. But when asked to sum up the replies, he said: 'I shall not offer any profound statements about heaven, hell and life after death, because there is no one who knows anything about them. But still you should not abuse the priests, but allow them to go on preaching about them. For in this way the minds of the common people are kept by an invisible bond subject to the laws and their rulers. And is this not the key to the preservation of Society?'

[7] We were astonished to hear such sentiments and said to one another: 'Although these people call themselves Christians, they are neither human beings nor animals, but human animals.’ However, to rouse them from their sleep we said: 'Heaven and hell do exist, and there is a life after death. You will be convinced of this when we dispel your ignorance about your present state. For everyone for some days after death is totally unaware that he is no longer living in the same world as formerly. The time that has passed is like a sleep, and when anyone wakes from it, he feels he is exactly where he was. It is the same with you at present, and this is why you spoke exactly as you thought in the previous world.'

Then the angels dispelled their ignorance, so that they saw they were in another world and among people they did not know. 'Oh, where are we?' they cried. 'You are no longer,' we said, 'in the natural world, but in the spiritual world and we are angels.'

Then, when they had woken up, they said: 'If you are angels, show us where heaven is.' 'Stay here a little while,' we replied, 'and we will come back.' After half an hour we returned and found them waiting for us, so we said: 'Follow us and we will take you to heaven.' They did so, and we went up with them, and since we were with them the guards opened the gate and let us in. We told those who received the newcomers on the threshold to examine them. So they turned them around, and saw that the backs of their heads were largely hollowed out. Then they said: 'Begone from here, for you find pleasure in the love of evil-doing, so you can have no link with heaven. In your hearts you have denied the existence of God and have despised religion.' 'Don't delay,' we told them, 'otherwise you will be thrown out.' So they hastened back down and were gone.

[8] On the way home we talked about the reason why those in this world who take pleasure in evil-doing have the backs of their heads hollowed out. I stated the reason, that human beings have two brains, one in the back of the head, which is called the cerebellum, the other in the front of the head, which is called the cerebrum. The cerebellum is the seat of loving on the part of the will, the cerebrum that of thinking on the part of the understanding. When the thought of the understanding does not guide the love of the will, the inmost regions of that person's cerebellum, which are in themselves heavenly, collapse; this causes the hollowing out.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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