90、天使灵与我谈论了他们星球的居民如何生活。天使灵说，他们并非王国的臣民，而是被分成大大小小的社群，并在其社群中与性情相似的人来往。他们从脸和言语立刻就知道这一点，几乎不会出任何差错。然后，他们立刻成为朋友。天使灵还说，他们的交往令人快乐，他们在聚会时彼此讨论他们社群里发生的事，尤其天堂里所发生的事；因为他们当中许多人享有与天堂天使的明显交谈。
在他们的社群，凡开始胡思乱想，并由此意愿邪恶的人都从他们那里被逐出。他们独自离开，因而在他们社群之外，在岩石或某个其它地方中间过着悲惨的生活；因为这个社群不再照料他们。某些社群千方百计试图迫使这种人悔改；当这些努力被证明是徒劳时，他们就与这些人断绝联系。他们以这种方式未雨绸缪，防止统治欲或获取财富的欲望潜入；也就是说，他们确保没有人出于统治欲控制任何社群，进而控制更多社群；也没有人出于对财富的欲望窃取别人的财物。在那里，人人都满足于自己的财物，人人都满足于自己的好名声，也就是公义和爱自己邻舍的名誉。如果那些思想并意愿邪恶的人没有被赶出去，如果他们没有在刚刚开始时就谨慎而严厉地处置自我之爱和尘世之爱，那么心灵的这种快乐和平安就会被摧毁。建立帝国和王国的背后动机就是这些爱。在这些帝国和王国中，很少有人不想统治并占有他人财物。因为很少有人出于对公义、公平的爱而行公义、公平；更很少有人行善是出于仁爱，而都是出于对法律，或丧失生命、财富，或好名声和基于这些东西的名誉的畏惧。
90. The angelic spirits talked with me about the way the inhabitants of their planet live. They do not have any kind of government there but reside in separate communities, some of which are relatively large and some of which are small, and these communities are made up of people who share a similar disposition. The inhabitants recognize this similarity immediately from each other’s faces and speech, and are rarely mistaken. They instantly become close friends.
The angelic spirits also said that the gatherings the inhabitants have are very enjoyable and that they talk about what is going on in their communities-especially about what is going on in heaven, since many of them have open communication with angels of heaven.
[2] If people in their communities begin to think dark thoughts and therefore intend to do evil, they are exiled and left to fend for themselves, so they live rather wretched lives outside any community, in rocky wastelands, since the others no longer show them support. Some of the communities will first try by various means to get these people to come to their senses, but when this proves fruitless, they leave them alone.
In this way they make sure that no craving for control or for excessive wealth creeps in, that is, that no one driven by a craving for control would take over one community and then many others, and no one driven by a craving for excessive wealth would take away others’ belongings. They each live content with their own possessions and with the esteem they are given for being fair-minded and loving. This joy and peace of mind would be destroyed if people who think evil thoughts and have evil intent were not exiled and if the other inhabitants did not take strong, decisive action against self-love and love for the world at the very outset.
These are the loves that lead to kingdoms and empires, in which only a few have no desire to be in control or possess the wealth of others. This is because there are few who do what is right and fair out of a love for what is right and fair-and fewer still who do what is good because they are truly caring individuals. Instead, people do what is right and fair only because of fear-fear of the law, fear for their lives, or fear of losing their wealth, status, or reputation. 1
Footnotes:
1. For more on the rise of empires and kingdoms as a consequence of love for oneself and love for the world, and the degeneration in the human race that brought it to the point of needing civil governments, see Other Planets 49, 174; Secrets of Heaven 8770, 10790-10792. On fear of loss of life, wealth, status, reputation, and fear of punishment in general as a necessary restraint upon those who are motivated primarily by love for oneself and love for the world, see Secrets of Heaven 6914:3, 6977, 7280:2; Heaven and Hell 509, 543, 581; New Jerusalem 71; Sketch on Goodwill (= Swedenborg 1995) 188. [LSW]
90. The angelic spirits talked with me about how the inhabitants of their world lived. They are not, they said, subjects of kingdoms, but divided into larger and smaller communities, in which they associate those of like character with themselves. They know this instantly from their faces and their speech, and rarely make any mistake about it; so they become friends at once. They also said that they take great pleasure in their meetings, at which they discuss what goes on in their communities; and especially what goes on in heaven, for many of them enjoy open communication with the angels of heaven.
[2] Any in their communities who begin to have wrong thoughts, leading to evil intentions, are banished from them. They leave them by themselves, so that they live pitifully outside their community, among rocks or elsewhere, being no longer looked after by it. Some communities try various methods of bringing them to their senses; but when these attempts prove vain they break off contact with them. By such means they take precautions to prevent the desire to rule or to gain wealth sneaking in; that is to say, they make sure that no one out of a desire to rule gets control of one community, and then many more, and that no one out of a desire for wealth steals their property from others. Each individual there lives content with his own property, and with his own good name, a reputation for being fair and loving his neighbour. This pleasure and peace of mind would be destroyed, if those who think and intend evil were not ejected, and if they did not prudently and severely confront self-love and the love of the world in their earliest stages. It is these loves which are the motives behind empires and kingdoms. In these there are few who do not want to rule and possess other people's property, for there are few who behave justly and fairly from a love of justice and fairness, even fewer who do good out of charity rather than through fear of the law or being deprived of their lives, of wealth, or of good name and reputation for that reason.
90. The angelic spirits spoke with me about the life of the inhabitants on their earth, that they are not under empires, but are arranged in societies larger and smaller, and that they consociate with themselves in their societies such as agree with them in mind, which they know at once from the face and speech, and are rarely deceived. Then they are friends at once. They said also that their consociations are delightful, and that they speak with one another of those things that are done in the societies, especially those done in heaven; for many of them have manifest communication with the angels of heaven. Those in their societies who begin to think perversely, and from this to will evil, are dissociated, and left to themselves alone, and thus they pass their time very miserably out of the society, among rocks or elsewhere; for the society no longer has a care over them. Certain societies try in various ways to compel such to repentance; but when they cannot effect this, they separate themselves from them. Thus they take care lest the lust of dominion and the lust of gain creep in; that is, lest any from the lust of dominion subject any society to themselves, and then many more; and lest any from the lust of gain seize the goods of others. Every one there lives content with his own goods, and every one with his own honor, in being esteemed just and one that loves his neighbor. This delight and tranquillity of mind would perish, if those that think and will what is evil were not cast out, and if the love of self and the love of the world were not met prudently and severely in the very beginnings. For these are the loves for the sake of which empires and kingdoms have been established, within which there are few who do not wish to have dominion, and to possess the goods of others. For there are few who do what is just and equitable from the love of what is just and equitable; still less who do what is good from charity itself, rather than from fear of the law, of life, of the loss of gain, of honor, and of reputation on account of those things.
90. Angelici Spiritus loquuti sunt mecum de vita incolarum in Tellure sua, quod non sub imperiis sint, sed quod distincti in societates majores et minores, et quod ibi sibi consocient tales qui conveniunt animis; et quod hoc sciant illico ex facie et loquela; quodque id illos raro fallat; sunt tunc illico amici. Dicebant etiam, quod consociationes illorum sint jucundae; et quod inter se loquantur de iis rebus quae in societatibus fiunt; imprimis quae in coelo, nam plures illorum manifestam communicationem habent cum Angelis coeli. Qui in societatibus illorum incipiunt sinistre cogitare, et inde male velle, illi dissociantur; relinquunt illos sibi solis, unde degunt extra societatem admodum misere, in petris aut alibi, nam illos non amplius curant. Quaedam societates variis modis ad resipiscentiam tales cogere tentant; sed cum hoc incassum fit, ab illis se dissociant. Ita praecavent, ne cupiditas dominii et cupiditas lucri irrepant, hoc est, ne aliqui ex cupiditate dominii sibi subjiciant societatem aliquam, et dein plures alias, et ne aliqui ex cupiditate lucri bona aliis eripiant; quisque ibi suis bonis contentus vivit, et quisque suo honore, quod audiat justus et proximi amans; hoc jucundum et tranquillum animi periturum foret, nisi illi qui male cogitant et male volunt, ejicerentur, et nisi prudenter et severe obviam irent in ipsis initiis amori sui et amori mundi; hi enim amores sunt, propter quos Imperia et Regna facta sunt, intra quae pauci sunt qui non dominari volunt, ac possidere bona aliorum, nam pauci sunt qui justum et aequum ex amore justi et aequi faciunt, minus qui bonum ex ipsa charitate, sed ex timore legis, vitae, jacturae lucri, honoris, et famae propter illa.