267、记事二：
又过了一段时间，我走进一片小树林，在那里边走边思考那些渴望拥有世俗财物，进而幻想自己拥有的人；然后在离我有一定距离处，发现两位天使在交谈，他们时不时地看向我。于是，我走了过去；正接近的时候，他们向我说话，说：“我们有一种内在觉察，感觉你在思索我们正在谈论的问题，或我们在谈论你正在思索的问题，这是情感相互交流的结果。”
于是，我问他们在谈论什么。他们说：“幻想、贪欲和聪明。刚才谈论的是那些以做白日梦和幻想拥有世间万物为快乐的人。”我便请求他们就这三个主题，即贪欲、幻想和聪明发表自己的看法。他们以下面这番话开始他们的回答：“每个人一生下来心里都有贪欲，表面上却通过教育获得聪明。就内在，即他的灵而言，若非靠着主，没有人能获得聪明，更不用说智慧了。因为人克制恶欲，并被保守在聪明中，皆视他仰望主，同时与祂联结的程度而定。做不到这一点，人无非是贪欲而已。然而，就外在，即身体而言，他通过教育获得聪明。人贪恋荣耀和富足，或显赫和财富；但除非他表面上既道德，又属灵，因而看似又聪明又智慧，否则这两个目标都实现不了。所以他从小就学习如此表现。这就是为何一混进人群或参加聚会，他就将他的灵颠倒过来，把它从贪欲中剥离出来，然后照着他从小习得，并保留在身体记忆中的得体正派的美德说话行事。他还尽最大努力看着，免得他的灵所陷入的疯狂贪欲溜出来。
“因此，凡内在不蒙主引领的，都是假冒为善的人、阿谀奉承者和伪君子；他们表面上是个人，其实并不是。论到这种人，可以说他的壳或身体是明智的，但他的核或灵是疯狂的；或说他的外在是人，内在却是野兽。这种人后脑勺朝上看，前面朝下看，因而走起路来好像被重物压弯，以致头垂下来，脸转向地面。当脱去肉体成为灵，因而得以自由时，他们就会沦为自己贪欲的疯狂。因为那些陷入自我之爱的人渴望主宰整个宇宙，甚至想延长它的界限，以扩大统治范围；事实上，他们永远看不到尽头。而那些陷入尘世之爱的人则渴望拥有宇宙万物，若有人暗中藏了财宝，他们就会悲伤、嫉妒。所以，为防止这种人变成纯粹的贪欲、丧失人性，在灵界，他们被允许出于害怕丧失名声、进而丧失荣耀和利益，以及畏惧法律及其制裁来思考。他们还被允许专心投入某项研究或工作，以便他们被保守于外在，因而被保持在聪明的状态，无论他们内在多么混乱和疯狂。”
接着，我又问，凡陷入贪欲的人是否也陷入它的幻想。他们回答说：“那些内心思想它，并通过自言自语而过度放纵自己的幻想之人，就会陷入其贪欲的幻想。这些人几乎将他们的灵从它与身体的联结中分离出来；他们使理解力疲于应对白日梦，沉溺于幻想拥有一切的空虚快乐。人若将自己的灵从身体抽离出来，不愿从他的疯狂所给予的快乐中退出，死后就会沦为这种疯狂的牺牲品。他很少从宗教信仰的角度思考邪恶与虚假，几乎想不到：无节制的自我之爱就是毁灭对主之爱，无节制的尘世之爱就是毁灭对邻之爱。”
267、第二段陈述：
一段时间后我来到一片树林中，边走边想那些在世间贪图财富的人。这时只见两个天使出现在我附近，他们跟我说：
“我们感到你正在思索我们谈论的问题。”
我问他们正在谈论什么问题。
“幻想、贪婪及才智，同时还有那些乐于幻想自己拥有世上的一切的人。”我于是请他们讲讲前面三点。
于是他们说每个人生来在内在上都处于贪婪的境况中，人会经过训练而进入到外在的有才智的状态中。除了主没有人是在内在上拥有才智和智慧的。
“每个人面向主时就会从贪婪的罪恶中退却，并且会处于有才智的状态。否则人是完全贪图淫乐的。在外在上人却可以通过训练处于才智状状中，因为无论人怎样渴望财富，荣耀和淫乐，他必须在外在上表现得有道德品质，有才智和智慧，否则他就不会获得这些。因此，在人面前，人就会从淫乐中收敛出来而表现得有好的品德。人从小就会不让自己的不好的一面在人前显露出来。”
“因此在内心不为主所领导的人就象一个演员、骗子、伪君子，表面看是好的，但实际不是。这样我们可以说他的躯壳是明智的，而他的内心则不然。或者说外在是人而内在是兽。当他们死后进入精神状态后，他们就会完全成为他们疯狂的贪婪的体现。因为自爱的人渴望统治世界。而爱尘世的人渴望拥有一切财富，他们会嫉妨别人的财富。”
“因此这种人会怕失去财富，名声，会怕法律的惩罚，他们也会去做出工作，但他们这样做是出于外在的考虑，而在内在上他们是疯狂的，不理智的。”
我又问：“贪婪的人是否也处于一种幻想状态中呢？”
天使说这种人会无限度地幻想，头脑中会充满虚假的想象，他们会梦想世界上的一切都属于他自己。
这种疯狂状态就是那些人死后的状况。他们无视信仰，不顾对自己的爱是对主的毁灭性的爱，对尘世的爱是对他人的毁灭性的爱。
267. The second experience.
Some time later I went into a park and walked there reflecting on those who have a longing to possess worldly goods and so imagine that they do. Then I saw at some distance from me two angels in conversation, who from time to time looked towards me. So I went nearer, and as I approached they addressed me and said, 'We have an inward perception that you are you are reflecting on what we are talking about, or that we are talking about what you are reflecting on, which is the result of the reciprocal communication of affections.'
[2] So I asked what they were talking about. 'About imagination,' they said, 'longing and intelligence; and just now about those who delight in day-dreaming and imagining they possess everything in the world.' So I asked them to reveal their thoughts on these topics, longing, imagination and intelligence. They began their reply by saying that everyone inwardly by birth has longing, but outwardly acquires intelligence by education. No one has intelligence, much less wisdom, inwardly, that is, in respect of his spirit, except from the Lord. 'For everyone,' they said, 'is restrained from longing for evil, and is kept in intelligence in proportion to the extent that he looks to the Lord and at the same time is linked with Him. Failing this, a person is nothing but longing; yet in externals, that is, as regards the body, he has intelligence as the result of education. A person longs for honours and riches, or to be eminent and wealthy; and these two goals cannot be attained unless he appears to be principled and spiritual, and so intelligent and wise. So from childhood he learns to appear thus. This is why, as soon as he mixes with people or attends a meeting, he reverses his spirit, switching it away from longing, and speaking and acting in accordance with the principles of decency and honour which he learned from childhood and retains in his bodily memory. He also takes the greatest care to see that nothing of the mad longing of his spirit slips out.
[3] 'Thus everyone, who is not inwardly guided by the Lord, is a pretender, a sycophant and hypocrite, appearing to be a human being without being one. Of him it can be said that his shell or body is wise, his kernel or spirit is mad; that his external is human, his internal that of a wild beast. Such people go about with the back of their heads pointing upwards, and the front downwards, so that they walk about as if weighed down by their burden, with their heads hanging down, their gaze fastened on the ground. When they put off their bodies, becoming spirits and being set free, they turn into what their own mad longings are. For those who are ruled by self-love long to be masters of the universe, or even to extend its limits so as to have wider sway, for they can see no end to it. Those ruled by love of the world long to possess everything in it, and are grieved and envious if anyone has any treasures stored away in secret. So to prevent such people turning into sheer longings and losing their humanity, they are allowed in the spiritual world to have their thoughts influenced by fear of losing their reputation, and so their honours and profit, as well as by fear of the law and its penalties. They are also allowed to concentrate their mind on some study or task, so that they are kept in externals and so in a state of intelligence, however much inwardly they rave and behave like madmen.'
[4] After this I asked whether all who have this longing to possess worldly goods also suffer from the delusion that they do so. They replied that the people who suffer from this delusion are those who think inwardly about it and over-indulge their imagination, talking to themselves about it. These people come close to separating their spirit from its link with the body; they swamp the understanding by day-dreaming, and indulge in the empty pleasure of imagining they possess everything. A person is after death the victim of this madness, if he has withdrawn his spirit from the body, and has not been willing to retreat from the delight his madness gives. He thinks little from a religious point of view about evils and falsities, and hardly anything about unrestrained love as being destructive of love to the Lord, and unrestrained love of the world as being destructive of love towards the neighbour.
267. The second account:
Some period of time later I entered a wooded area, where I walked engaged in thought concerning people who are caught up in a craving to possess those things which have to do with the world, and who fantasize on that account that they do. And I saw, then, two angels at some distance from me, talking together and now and then looking over at me. Consequently I drew nearer; and as I approached, they spoke to me, saying:
"We perceive in ourselves that you are thinking about the same thing we are discussing, or that we are discussing the same thing you are thinking about, which comes from a reciprocal communication of our affections."
I asked them, therefore, what they were discussing.
"Fantasy, lust, and intelligence," they said, "and at the moment, people who find delight in picturing and imagining that they possess everything in the world."
[2] At that I then asked them to express their thought with respect to the first three points - lust, fantasy and intelligence.
So, taking up the subject, they said that everyone is in a state of lust inwardly from birth, and in a state of intelligence outwardly from training; but that no one is in a state of intelligence inwardly, thus in spirit - still less in a state of wisdom - except from the Lord.
"For everyone," they said, "is withheld from the lust of evil and kept in a state of intelligence according as he looks to the Lord and is at the same time conjoined with Him. Apart from this a person is nothing but lust. Yet he is still in a state of intelligence in outward aspects, or as regards the body, from training. For though a person craves honors and riches, or prominence and wealth, these two are not attained unless he appears to be moral and spiritual in character, thus intelligent and wise; and he learns to appear such from the time he is a little child. That is why, as soon as he comes into the company of others or into gatherings of them, he turns his spirit about, withdraws it from lust, and speaks and acts in accordance with the becoming and honorable virtues he has learned from early childhood and still retains in his physical memory - doing his utmost to take care that nothing emerges of the insanity of lust which grips his spirit.
[3] "Consequently everyone not inwardly led by the Lord is a faker, a phony and a hypocrite, and so is human in appearance but not in reality. Of such a person it may be said that his outer shell or body is wise, while his kernel or spirit is insane; or that his outward aspect is human and his inward one animal. People like that direct the back of their heads upward and the front downward, thus going about as though afflicted with heaviness, their heads hanging down and their faces turned to the ground. When they put off the body and become spirits, and are then set free, they become reflections of the insanities of their lust. For people who are caught up in love of self have a longing to rule over the universe, even to extend its limits in order to widen their dominion, never seeing an end; while people who are caught up in a love of the world have a longing to possess all its riches, and they grieve and are envious if any of its treasures are kept hidden from them in the possession of others.
"To keep people like this from becoming nothing but reflections of their lusts, therefore, and so no longer human, it is given them in the natural 1world to think in accord with fear for the loss of their reputation, and so the loss of honor and gain, together with fear of the law and its penalties; and also to apply their minds to some pursuit or work, by which they are held in external concerns and thus in a state of intelligence, however irrational and insane they are inwardly."
[4] Following this description I asked whether all people who are caught up in the lust are at the same time caught up in the fantasy of it.
They replied that those are caught up in the fantasy of their lust who think withdrawn into themselves and indulge their imagination excessively, talking to themselves; for they almost separate their spirit from its connection with the body, overwhelming their understanding with delusion and stupidly entertaining themselves with nonsense as though everything in the universe were theirs.
This madness is what a person comes into after death if he has withdrawn his spirit from the body and has been unwilling to relinquish the pleasure of his madness, thinking little from religion about evils and falsities, and least of all about unbridled love of self as being destructive of love toward the Lord, or about unbridled love of the world as being destructive of love for the neighbor.
Footnotes:
1. The original text reads, "in the spiritual world," but preceding and subsequent statements in the discussion, and the general doctrine delivered elsewhere concerning the nature of the two worlds, suggest that it is probably a slip of the pen for "the natural world." (The same statement is repeated in True Christian Religion, no. 662[3], without correction, but so are several other, more obvious errors, indicating that the latter was simply set in type again from the text here, without careful review.)
267. The second story: After quite a while I went into a certain grove and was walking around, thinking about people who have a lust that gives them a fantasy of having everything in the world, and at a distance I saw two angels talking together and looking at me from time to time. So I went toward them, and as I approached they said, "We have a feeling you're thinking about what we were saying, or else we're talking about what you're thinking about. Affections can do this by communicating back and forth."
So I asked them what they were talking about. They said they were talking about fantasy, lust, intelligence, and just now about people who like to envision and imagine owning everything in the world. Then I asked them to tell what they thought about those three things - lust, fantasy, and intelligence.
They started talking and said, "Everyone is born greedy for things, inwardly, but has outward intelligence from education.
And no one is inwardly intelligent, still less wise - in his spirit except from the Lord. For everyone is kept from lusting for evil to the extent that he pays attention to the Lord and also keeps united with Him. Without this, a person is nothing but lust. Yet outwardly, as to his body, he has intelligence due to education. For people lust for honors and riches, or status and wealth, but you do not get these unless you seem moral and spiritual and therefore intelligent and wise, so people learn to appear like that from infancy.
This is why a person turns his spirit upside - down and recovers it from selfishness as soon as he gets among people or in company, and speaks and acts according to an idea of proper behavior and integrity, which he has learned from infancy and keeps in his bodily memory. He is very careful not to let any of the insane selfishness in his spirit show. So everyone who is not inwardly led by the Lord is a dissembler, a deceiver, a hypocrite, and therefore a person in appearance, yet not human. You could say that his shell or body is wise, and his kernel or spirit is insane, and that his outside is human and his inside bestial. People like this turn the backs of their heads upward and the fronts downward, so they walk as if they are depressed, with their heads hanging down and their faces turned to the earth. When they shed their bodies, become spirits, and are set free, they turn into the insanity of their own greedy wants. For people who are preoccupied with self - love have a burning desire to rule the universe and even to extend the limits of it to increase their dominion. They are never satisfied.
"The ones who are preoccupied with worldly love want to have everything in the world. It gives them grief and envy if others put away any of its treasures. Therefore, to keep them from becoming pure greed instead of people, while in the spiritual world they are allowed to think under the influence of fear - fear of losing their reputation and with it their dignity and wealth, and fear of the law and its penalty. They are also allowed to apply their minds to some study or occupation that keeps them on the surface and thus in a state of intelligence, no matter how delirious and insane they are under the surface."
Then I asked whether everyone who is preoccupied with lust also lives in its fantasies.
They said, "Those who think secretly and indulge too much in their own imagination by talking to themselves do live in the fantasy of their lust. They almost separate their spirit from its connection with their body, and what they envision overwhelms their ability to understand, and they delight in a pretense that they own everything. A person finds himself in his delirious fantasy after death if he has made his spirit something separate from his body, and if he would not withdraw from the delight of this madness by using religion to think about evils and false ideas, and if he thought still less about unbridled self - love and how it destroys love of the Lord, and how unbridled love of the world destroys love for the neighbor."
267. The second Memorable Relation:
Some time later I entered a grove, and while walking there in meditation upon those who are in the concupiscence and hence in the fantasy of possessing the things of the world, I saw at some distance from me two angels conversing together and every now and then looking at me. Therefore I went nearer to them, and as I was approaching, they spoke to me and said, "We perceive within us that you are meditating on the subject of which we are speaking, or that we are speaking of the subject on which you are meditating; this comes from a reciprocal communication of affections."
[2] I therefore asked them what was the subject of their conversation. They said that it was fantasy, concupiscence, and intelligence, and that just now they were speaking of those who take delight in the vision and imagination of possessing all things in the world. I then asked them to express their minds on those three subjects, concupiscence, fantasy, and intelligence.
Commencing their discourse. they said: "From birth everyone is inwardly in concupiscence, and from education outwardly in intelligence, but no one is in intelligence inwardly, thus as to his spirit, still less in wisdom, except from the Lord; for every one is withheld from the concupiscence of evil and held in intelligence according as he looks to the Lord and at the same time is conjoined with Him. Without this, man is nothing but concupiscence. Yet, from education he is in intelligence in external matters, that is, as to the body; for man lusts after honors and riches, or eminence and wealth, and he cannot attain these two unless he has the appearance of being moral and spiritual, thus intelligent and wise. Therefore he learns to put on this appearance from very infancy. This is the reason why, as soon as he comes among men or into company, he inverts his spirit, removes it from concupiscence, and speaks and acts from becoming and honorable principles which he has learned from infancy and retains in the memory of his body, taking the greatest care that nothing of the insanity of concupiscence in which his spirit is shall come out.
[3] Hence every man who is not inwardly led by the Lord is a dissembler, a sycophant, and a hypocrite, thus an apparent man and yet not a man. Of such a man it can be said that his shell or body is wise and his kernel or spirit insane, and that his external is human and his internal ferine. Such men look upwards with the back of their head and downwards with the front, and thus walk as if beset with heaviness, with head hanging down and face turned to the earth. When they put off the body and become spirits and so are set free, they become the insanities of their concupiscence; for those who are in the love of self, desire to have dominion over the universe, yea, to extend its limits, that they may enlarge their dominion; they never see the end. Those who are in the love of the world desire to possess all things thereof and are grieved and envious if any treasures lie hidden with others. Therefore, in the natural world, 1lest such men become mere concupiscences and thus not men, it is granted them to think from fear of the loss of reputation and thus of honor and gain, and also from fear of the law and its punishments. It is also granted them to apply their mind to some study or occupation whereby they are kept in externals and thus in a state of intelligence, however delirious and insane they are inwardly."
[4] I then asked whether all who are in concupiscence are also in the fantasy thereof. They replied: "Those are in the fantasy of their concupiscence who think inwardly within themselves and over-indulge their imagination by talking with themselves; for they almost separate their spirit from its connection with the body, and from vision, overwhelm the understanding and fatuously divert themselves as though from universal ownership. Into this delirium is that man let after death who has abstracted his spirit from the body and has not wished to withdraw from the delight of his delirium by some thought from religion concerning evils and falsities, and still less by thought concerning the unbridled love of self as destructive of love to the Lord, and the unbridled love of the world as destructive of love towards the neighbor."
Footnotes:
1. The Latin is in mundo spirituali (in the spiritual world) but this is manifestly an error.
267. II
After some time 1I entered a certain grove where I walked meditating on those who are in the lust and thence in the phantasy of possessing the things of the world. At a distance I saw two angels conversing, who from time to time glanced my way. I therefore went nearer. As I approached they addressed me and said, "We perceive within us that you are meditating on the subject of which we are speaking, or that we are speaking on the subject of your meditation. This comes from a mutual sharing of affections."
[2] So I asked them what they were talking of. They said, "Of phantasy, lust, and intelligence, and at the moment about those who delight in the hallucination and imagination that they possess all things in the world." I then asked them to express their minds on the three subjects: lust, phantasy, and intelligence.
Beginning their discourse they said that every one is inwardly in lust by birth, but outwardly in intelligence by education. No one is in intelligence, still less in wisdom inwardly or as to the spirit, except from the Lord. "For every one is withheld from the lust of evil and kept in intelligence according as he looks to the Lord and at the same time is united with Him. Short of this, man is nothing but lust. In externals or as to the body, however, he is in intelligence by education. For while man lusts after honors and riches, or eminence and wealth, he does not attain them unless he appears moral and spiritual, thus intelligent and wise; therefore from infancy he learns to appear so. That is why, as soon as he comes among men or into company, he inverts his spirit, withdraws it from lust, and speaks and acts from the idea of what is decorous and honorable which he has learned from infancy and which he retains in the memory of his body, taking every care that nothing of the insanity of lust in which his spirit is, shall betray itself.
[3] Hence every one who is not inwardly led by the Lord is a dissembler, flatterer and hypocrite, and thus seemingly a man and yet not a man. It may be said of him that the shell or body is wise and the kernel or spirit insane; or the external, human but the internal, bestial. Such men look upward with the back of the head and downward with the face, and walk as if oppressed with a load, with the head drooping and the face prone. When they put off the body and become spirits and have their freedom, they become the insanity of their own lust. For those in self-love have a burning desire to rule over the universe, indeed to extend its limits in order to amplify their dominion. They never see the end.
"Men who are in love of the world desire to possess all things thereof, and grieve and feel envy if any treasures are sequestered with others. To the end therefore that such may not become mere lusts and thus not men, it is given them in the natural world to think from fear of the loss of reputation and thus of honor and gain, and also from fear of the law and its penalty. And it is also given them to apply the mind to some study or occupation, by which they are kept in their externals, and thus in a state of intelligence, however delirious and insane they are inwardly."
[4] I then asked whether all who are in a lust are also in the phantasy of it. They replied that those who think inwardly within themselves, and over-indulge their imagination by talking with themselves, are in the phantasy of their lust. These practically sever their spirit from connection with the body, submerge the understanding in illusion, and fatuously delight themselves as if with universal possession. Into such delirium is the man let after death who has abstracted his spirit from the body, and who was unwilling to withdraw from the delight of his delirium by reflecting from religion upon evils and falsities, especially upon unbridled love of self, realizing how destructive it is of love of the Lord, and upon unbridled love of the world, realizing how destructive this is of love towards the neighbor.
Footnotes:
1. These Memorabilia, through268, occur again in True Christian Religion 662.
267. The Second Relation:
After some interval of time I entered a certain grove, and was walking about there, in meditation upon those who are in the lust and thence in the fantasy of possessing the things which are of the world, when at some distance from me I saw two angels conversing together, and by turns looking at me. I therefore, went nearer, and as I approached they spoke to me and said, 'We perceive within us that you are meditating on what we are saying, or that we are speaking on the subject of your meditation, which comes from a reciprocal communication of affections.'
And so I asked them what was the subject of their conversation. They said they were speaking of fantasy, of lust, and of intelligence, and just now about those who delight themselves with the vision and imagination of possessing all things in the world. I then asked them to express their minds on those three, lust, fantasy, and intelligence.
Beginning their discourse they said, that everyone is interiorly in lust from birth; but is in intelligence, exteriorly by education. And no one is in intelligence interiorly, that is in spirit, except from the Lord: 'For everyone is withheld from the lust of evil and kept in intelligence according to his looking to the Lord and at the same time conjunction with Him. Without this man is nothing but lust; but still in externals, or as to the body, he is in intelligence from education. For man lusts after honors and riches, or eminence and wealth; and he does not attain these two unless he appears moral and spiritual, thus intelligent and wise, and therefore, from infancy he learns to appear so; which is the reason why as soon as he comes among men or into company, he inverts his spirit, draws it away from lust, and speaks and acts from the idea of what is decorous and honorable which he has learned from infancy, and retains in the memory of his body; and he takes the greatest care that nothing of the insanity of lust, in which his spirit is, shall come forth. Hence every man who is not inwardly led by the Lord is a dissembler, a deceiver, a hypocrite, and thus an apparent man and yet not a man; of whom it may be said that his shell or body is wise and his kernel or spirit insane; and that his external is human and his internal bestial. Such men look upward with the back of the head and downwards with the front and so walk as if oppressed with heaviness, with the head drooping and the face prone to the earth. When they put off the body and become spirits and are set free, they become the insanity of their own lust; for those that are in the love of self have a burning desire to rule over the universe, yea, to extend its limits further to amplify their dominion. They never see the end.
They who are in the love of the world desire to possess all things thereof, and grieve and envy if any of its treasures lie hidden with any others. To the end therefore, that such may not become mere lusts, and thus not men, it is given them in the natural 1world to think from fear of the loss of reputation, and thus of honor and gain, and also from fear of the law and its penalty. And it is also given them to apply the mind to some study or occupation, by which they are kept in their externals, and thus in a state of intelligence, however delirious and insane they are inwardly.' I then asked whether all who are in lust are also in the fantasy of it. They replied that those who think within themselves inwardly, and indulge too much in their own imagination by talking with themselves, are in the fantasy of their lust; for they almost separate their spirit from its connection with the body, and by vision inundate the understanding, and fatuously delight themselves as if with universal possession. Into this delirium the man is let after death who has abstracted his spirit from the body, and who was not willing to
withdraw from the delight of the delirium by thinking from religion about evils and falsities, and still less about the unbridled love of self, that it is destructive of love of the Lord, and about the unbridled love of the world, that it is destructive of love towards the neighbor.
Footnotes:
1. The word here in the original is spirituali, but the context appears to show that by mistake, perhaps of the printer, spirituali is put for naturali. [TR.]
267. Alterum Memorabile. Post aliquod temporis spatium intravi quendam Lucum, et ibi ambulavi in meditatione de illis, qui in concupiscentia et inde phantasia possidendi illa quae Mundi sunt; et tunc ad aliquam distantiam a me vidi binos Angelos inter se colloquentes, et per vices me aspicientes; quare accessi propius, et me appropinquantem alloquuti dicebant, "percipimus in nobis, quod mediteris quod nos loquimur, seu quod nos loquamur quod tu meditaris, quod est ex communicatione affectionum reciproca;" quaesivi itaque quid loquerentur; dicebant de Phantasia, de Concupiscentia, et de Intelligentia; et nunc de illis, qui delectant se ex visione et imaginatione possessionis omnium Mundi;
[2] et tunc rogavi, ut mentem suam expromerent de tribus illis, de Concupiscentia, Phantasia et Intelligentia; et exorsi sermonem dicebant, quod unusquisque in Concupiscentia sit interius ex nativitate; sed in Intelligentia exterius ex educatione; et quod nemo in Intelligentia, minus in sapientia sit interius, ita quoad spiritum, nisi a Domino; "omnis enim detinetur a concupiscentia mali, ac tenetur in intelligentia, secundum aspectum ad Dominum, et simul conjunctionem cum Ipso; absque eo homo non est nisi quam concupiscentia; at usque hic in externis seu quoad corpus est in intelligentia ex educatione; homo enim concupiscit honores et opes, seu eminentiam et opulentiam; et haec duo non assequitur nisi appareat moralis et spiritualis, ita intelligens et sapiens; ac ita apparere discit ab infantia; quae causa est, quod ut primum inter homines seu in caetus venit, invertat spiritum suum, ac removeat illum a concupiscentia, et ex decoris et honestis, quae ex infantia didicit, et in memoria corporis retinet, loquatur et agat; et quam maxime caveat, ne aliquid ex concupiscentiae vesania, in qua est ejus spiritus, emanet:
[3] inde est omnis homo, qui non interius a Domino ducitur, simulator, 1sycophanta, hypocrita, et sic apparens 2homo, et tamen non homo; de quo potest dici, quod ejus crusta seu corpus sapiat, ac ejus nucleus seu spiritus insaniat; tum quod externum ejus sit humanum ac internum 3ferinum; tales occipitio spectant sursum, et frontispicio deorsum, ita ambulant sicut gravedine obsessi, capite pendente, cum vultu prono ad terram; illi dum exuunt corpus, et fiunt spiritus, et tunc manumittuntur, fiunt suae concupiscentiae vesaniae; nam illi qui in amore sui sunt, cupiunt dominari super universum, imo extendere ejus limites illuc ad amplificandum dominium, nusquam vident finem; illi qui in amore mundi sunt, cupiunt possidere omnia ejus, ac dolent et invident, si aliqui thesauri apud aliquos latent reconditi; quare tales ne mere concupiscentiae fiant, et sic non homines, datur illis in Mundo naturali 4cogitare ex timore jacturae famae, et sic honoris et lucri, ut et ex timore legis et ejus poenae, et quoque datur impendere mentem in aliquod studium seu opus, per quae tenentur in externis et sic in statu intelligentiae, utcunque interius delirant et insaniunt."
[4] Post haec quaesivi, num omnes illi qui in concupiscentia sunt, etiam in ejus phantasia sint; respondebant quod illi in phantasia suae concupiscentiae sint, qui interius in se cogitant, et nimium indulgent suae imaginationi, loquendo secum; hi enim separant spiritum suum paene a nexu cum corpore, 5et ex visione inundant intellectum, et fatue oblectant se sicut ex possessione universali: in hoc delirium immittitur homo post mortem, qui spiritum suum a corpore abstraxit, et non ex delitio delirii voluit recedere; cogitando aliquid ex religione de malis et falsis, et minime aliquid de effraeno amore sui, quod sit destructivus amoris in Dominum, ac de effraeno amore mundi, quod sit destructivus amoris erga proximum.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: similator,
2. Prima editio: aparens
3. Prima editio: inrernum
4. Prima editio: spirituali (sed in errore, lapsu pennae, ut videtur ex praecedentibus et sequentibus hic, et ex doctrina communi alibi tradita de spirituali mundo etnaturali; hoc dictum iterum in Vera Christiana Religio 662[3] apparet, at cum aliis erroribus manifestioribus abhinc repetitis, ex quo videntur mere repetiti absque emendatione)
5. Prima editio: compore,