68、人的内层属于他的心智，该内层的提升也是有必要知道的。神所造的一切事物都具有反应能力，唯独生命能进行作用，反应力是由生命的作用力引发的。因为任何受造物被作用时都会产生反应，所以这种反应看上去好像属于受造物。当它发生在人身上时，似乎是属于人自己的。原因是，尽管人只是生命的接受者，但他只感觉那生命是他的。正因如此，人在遗传之恶的促使下做出对抗神的反应。然而，人在何等程度上相信他的一切生命皆来自神，一切生命的良善皆来自神的作用力，一切生命的邪恶皆来自人的反应力，他的反应力就在何等程度上顺应神的作用力，人貌似凭自己与神一致行动。一切事物的平衡都来自作用力和同步的反应力，一切事物都必须处于平衡状态。说这些事是叫人不要以为他上升到神那里靠的是他自己，而非靠着主。
68. There is something else that we need to know about this lifting of the inner levels of our minds. Reaction is characteristic of everything created by God. Only life is action, while reaction is prompted by the action of life. This reaction seems to be proper to the created being because it becomes perceptible when that being is stirred; so when it happens in us, it seems to be our own. The reason is that even though we are only life-receivers, we have no sense that our life is anything but our own.
This is why we react against God as a result of our inherited evil. However, to the extent that we believe that all our life comes from God and that everything good about it comes from an act of God and everything bad about it from our own reaction, our reaction becomes a property of the action and we are then acting with God with apparent autonomy. The equilibrium of all things comes from action and immediate reaction, and everything must necessarily be in an equilibrium.
I mention these things to prevent any belief that we ourselves climb up to God on our own power. It is done by the Lord.
68. Regarding the elevation of a person's interior elements which are those of his mind, the following, too, must be known.
Everything created by God has present within it a reaction, life alone being capable of action, and the reaction is occasioned by the action of life. This reaction appears as though it were a property of the thing created because it occurs when the thing is acted upon. Thus the reaction in a person appears as though it were his, because he has no other sensation than that life is his, when in fact the person is only a recipient of life.
It is because of this that a person prompted by his evil heredity reacts against God. However, to the extent that he believes all his life to be from God, and that all goodness of life is owing to the action of God, and all evil of life to the reaction of man, to that extent his reaction becomes one of action, and the person acts in concert with God as though of himself.
The equilibrium of all things is owing to a simultaneous action and reaction, and everything must be in equilibrium.
This much has been said to keep people from believing that they ascend to God of themselves rather than from the Lord.
68. Concerning the elevation of man's interiors which belong to his mind, the following should also be known. In everything created by God there is reaction. In Life alone there is action, and reaction is caused by the action of Life. This reaction appears to belong to the created thing, because it comes into being when the subject is acted upon. Thus in man it appears as if it [reaction] were his because he has no other feeling than that life is his, when yet man is only a recipient of life. It is because of this that man, by reason of his hereditary evil, reacts against God. But as he believes that all his life is from God, and that all the good of life is from the action of God, and all evil of life from the reaction of man, to that extent the reaction becomes [part] of the action and man acts with God, as if from himself. The equilibrium of all things is from action and reaction together, and everything must be in equilibrium. These things have been said lest man should believe that he himself ascends to God by himself; but he does so by [the power of] the Lord.
68. Of the elevation of the interiors of man, which belong to his mind, this also should be known. In everything created by God there is reaction. In Life alone there is action; reaction is caused by the action of Life. Because reaction takes place when any created thing is acted upon, it appears as if it belonged to what is created. Thus in man it appears as if the reaction were his, because he has no other feeling than that life is his, when yet man is only a recipient of life. From this cause it is that man, by reason of his hereditary evil, reacts against God. But so far as man believes that all his life is from God, and that all good of life is from the action of God, and all evil of life from the reaction of man, so far his reaction comes to be from [God's] action, and man acts with God as if from himself. The equilibrium of all things is from action and simultaneous reaction, and in equilibrium everything must be. These things have been said lest man should believe that he himself ascends toward God from himself, and not from the Lord.
68. De elevatione interiorum hominis quae mentis ejus sunt, hoc etiam sciendum est. Omni creato a Deo inest reactio; soli Vitae est actio; et reactio excitatur per actionem Vitae: illa reactio apparet sicut sit creati ex eo quod existat cum agitur; ita in homine apparet sicut sit ejus, quia non sentit aliter quam quod vita sit ejus, cum tamen homo est solum recipiens vitae. Ex ea causa est, quod homo ex malo suo haereditario reagat contra Deum: sed sicut credit quod omnis vita ejus sit a Deo, et omne bonum vitae ab actione Dei, et omne malum vitae a reactione hominis, ita reactio fit actionis, ac homo agit cum Deo sicut a se. Aequilibrium omnium est ab actione et simul reactione, et in aequilibrio erit omne. Haec dicta sunt, ne homo credat quod ipse ad Deum ascendat a se, sed a Domino.