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512. 五十三, 人死后的第三个状态, 就是进入天堂的人接受教导的状态
人死后的第三个状态, 也就是其灵的第三个状态, 是教导的状态. 这种状态是为那些进入天堂, 并变成天使的人, 而不是为那些进入地狱的人, 因为后者不能接受教导, 因此他们的第二个状态也是他们的第三个状态, 并在此结束, 以致他们完全转向自己的爱, 因而转向陷入类似爱的地狱社群. 一旦这种情况发生, 他们便出于那爱意愿和思考; 由于那爱是地狱的, 所以他们无非意愿邪恶, 思考虚假; 他们在这种思考和意愿中找到自己的快乐, 因为这些属于他们的爱; 正因如此, 他们将之前所吸收, 作为工具用来服务他们爱的一切良善与真理都加以弃绝.
另一方面, 善灵从第二个状态被引入第三个状态, 也就是他们通过教导预备上天堂的状态. 事实上, 人只能通过良善与真理的知识, 也就是只能通过教导预备上天堂, 因为人只能通过接受教导才知道何为属灵的良善与真理, 何为邪恶与虚假, 也就是他们的对立面. 人能在世上学习何为文明, 道德的良善与真理, 也就是所谓的公正与诚实, 因为世上有民法教导何为公正, 人也可以通过与其他人交往学习照着道德法则生活, 这一切都与诚实, 公正有关. 但属灵的良善与真理是从天堂, 而非世界学来的. 他们能从圣言和取自圣言的教会教义学来, 然而, 就属于心智的内层而言, 若人不在天堂, 属灵的良善与真理就无法流入他的生命; 当人既承认神性, 又行事公正, 诚实时, 便在天堂; 他认识到应当如此行, 因为这是圣言的要求. 这就是为了神性, 而非为了自我和世界为目的而公正, 诚实地生活.
然而, 没有人能如此行, 除非他先接受教导, 例如: 有一位神存在, 有天堂与地狱, 以及死后生命存在, 当爱神高于一切, 当爱邻如己, 当信圣言的教导, 因为圣言是神性. 若不知道并承认这些事, 人就不能作属灵的思考; 人若不思考它们, 就不会意愿它们; 因为人无法思考他所不知道的, 也无法意愿他所没有思考的. 然而, 当人意愿这些事时, 天堂就流入他的生命, 也就是主经由天堂流入他的生命, 因为主流入意愿, 并经由意愿流入思维, 经由这二者流入生命, 人的整个生命便来自这些. 这一切清楚表明, 属灵的良善与真理不是从世界, 而是从天堂学来的, 人只能通过教导预备上天堂.
此外, 主在何等程度上流入人的生命, 就在何等程度上教导他, 因为祂在何等程度上以学习真理的爱点燃意愿, 启示思维去认识它们. 这一切进展到什么程度, 人的内层被打开, 天堂被植入他们就到什么程度. 此外, 神性和天堂流入人里面属于道德生活的诚实和属于文明生活的公正, 使它们变得属灵, 因为那时人出于神性行这些事, 也就是为了神性的缘故而行. 因为人出于此源头所行的属于道德和文明生活的诚实和公正是属灵生活的本质结果; 结果从有效的原因得其一切, 因为原因如何, 结果就如何.
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512. 人死後的第三個狀態
人死後, 也就是他的靈的第三個狀態, 是一個受教的狀態。這個狀態是為即將進入天國成為天人的靈所預備的階段。即將進入地獄之靈無此階段, 因為他們並不願受這方面的教導。所以, 他們的第二個狀態也就是第三個狀態, 隨著他們完全轉向自己的欲望, 因而投向類似欲望的邪惡社群而告結束。至此, 他們的意志和思想皆出自如此欲望, 因為此為可憎之欲, 所以他們所意志的無非是惡, 所思想的無非是謬。這是他們的快樂所在, 因為與其欲望相應。曾被用作工具的一切善與理, 終究為他們所啟棄。
相比之下, 善人將從第二個狀態進入第三個狀態, 通過受教為天國做好準備。事實上, 人只有通過認識善與理, 就是說, 只有通過領受教導, 才能為天國做好準備。若不領受教導, 沒有人能明白何為心靈的善與理, 以及與之對立的惡與謬。在人間, 人知道公平和誠實是屬乎民法與道德的善與理, 因為法律指示何為公平, 道德指示何為誠實正直。但是, 心靈之善與理不能學自人間, 只能學自天國。人可以通過聖言和教會的教義去瞭解何為心靈之善與理, 但是, 就人的思想而言, 他若不在天國, 心靈之善與理還是不能流入其生命中。而在天國之人, 就是承認上帝並同時照公平誠實而行的人。他知道理當如此行, 因為這是聖言的要求。所以, 他行公平誠實, 是因著上帝, 不是為了自己或世界。
但是, 沒有人會照此而行, 除非他首先領受教導, 知道上帝存在, 天國地獄存在, 死後生命存在, 當愛上帝過於一切, 當愛鄰如己, 當信聖言(因為它出於上帝)等事實。若非如此, 人不能思想属靈之事, 而不思想就無法立志。因為人所不知者, 他不能思想;所不思想者, 他不能立志。反之, 人若立此志向, 主就借著天國流入其生命中。因為主流入人的意志, 經意志流入思想, 最後流入生活。生活源於意志與思想。
由此可見, 属靈之善與理不能學自人間, 只能學自天國。若不領受教導, 沒有人能預備上天國。
再者, 主若流入我們的生命, 祂必要指教我們, 以渴慕真理之情激發我們的意志, 照亮我們的思想, 引導我們明白真理。如此, 我們的心得以開啟, 天國得以種入其中。另外, 神性的與天國的品質流入誠實公平的行為之中, 使道德文明的生活提升為属靈的生活, 因為這些事情出於神性而行, 為了彰顯神性而行。民事和道德生活中誠實公平的行為, 實質上是属靈生命的效用。果成於因, 因如何, 果就如何。
512. Our Third State after Death, Which Is a State of Instruction for People Who Are Entering Heaven
Our third state after death, or the third state of our spirits, is one of instruction. This state is for people who are entering heaven and becoming angels, but not for people who are entering hell, because these latter cannot be taught. As a result, their second state is also their third, and ends in their turning straight toward their own love and therefore toward the hellish community that is engaged in a love like their own. Once this has happened, their intentions and thinking flow from that love; and since it is a hellish love, they intend only what is evil and think only what is false. These are their pleasures because they are matters of their love. Further, this results in their rejecting everything that is good and true that had served their love as means.
[2] Good people, though, are brought from the second state into a third, which is a state of preparation for heaven by means of instruction. In fact, no one can be prepared for heaven except by knowing at first hand what is good and true, and therefore only by being taught. This is because without being taught, no one can know what spiritual good and truth are and what the evil and falsity that oppose them are. We can know in the world what civil and moral good and truth are, what is called fair and honest, because there are civil laws there that teach what is fair, and there are also social situations where we learn to live by moral laws, which all deal with what is honest and equitable. Spiritual good and truth, however, are not learned from the world but from heaven. We can in fact know them from the Word and from the church's doctrine from the Word, but this still cannot flow into life unless we are in heaven in regard to the deeper levels of our minds. We are in heaven when we acknowledge the Divine Being and at the same time act fairly and honestly, recognizing that we should because it is commanded us in the Word. In this way we live fairly and honestly for the sake of the Divine and not for the sake of ourselves and the world as our primary goals.
[3] However, no one can behave like this without first having been taught things like the fact that God exists, that heaven and hell exist, that there is a life after death, that God is to be loved above all and our neighbor as ourselves, and that we are to believe what it says in the Word because the Word is divine. Without recognizing and admitting these principles we cannot think spiritually, and without thought about such matters we cannot intend them; for what we do not know we cannot think, and what we do not think we cannot intend. However, when we do intend such things, heaven flows in - that is, the Lord flows into our lives through heaven, for he flows into the will and through that into the thought, and through both of these into the life, since they are where our whole life comes from. We can see from this that spiritual good and truth are not learned from the world but from heaven, and that no one can be prepared for heaven except by instruction.
[4] Then too, to the extent that the Lord flows into our life he does teach us, since to that same extent he kindles our intentions with a love of learning what is true and enlightens our thought so that we know what is true. To the extent that this happens, our deeper reaches are opened and heaven is sown in them. Even beyond this, to that same extent what is divine and heavenly flows into the honest deeds of our moral life and the fair deeds of our civic life and makes them spiritual, since then we are doing them from the Divine because we are doing them for the sake of the Divine. The honest and fair deeds of our moral and civic life that we do from this source are actual effects of spiritual life; and an effect derives all its being from its efficient cause, because the quality of the cause determines the quality of the effect.
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512. THE THIRD STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH, WHICH IS A STATE OF INSTRUCTION FOR THOSE WHO COME INTO HEAVEN
The third state of man after death, that is, of his spirit, is a state of instruction. This state is for those who come into heaven and become angels. It is not for those who come into hell, because such are incapable of being taught, and therefore their second state is also their third, ending in this, that they are wholly turned to their own love, thus to that infernal society which is in a like love. When this has been done, they then will and think from that love; and as that love is infernal, they will nothing but what is evil and think nothing but what is false. Willing what is evil and thinking what is false are their delights, because they are the delights of their love; and in consequence of this they reject everything good and true which they had previously adopted as serviceable to their love as means.
[2] Good spirits, on the other hand, are led from the second state into the third, which is the state of their preparation for heaven by means of instruction. For one can be prepared for heaven only by means of cognitions of good and truth, that is, only by means of instruction, since one can know what spiritual good and truth are, and what evil and falsity are, which are their opposites, only by being taught. One can learn in the world what civil and moral good and truth are, which are called justice and honesty, because there are civil laws in the world that teach what is just, and there is intercourse with others whereby man learns to live in accordance with moral laws, all of which have relation to what is honest and right. But spiritual good and truth are learned, not from the world but from heaven. They can be learned from the Word and from the doctrine of the Church that is drawn from the Word, and yet unless man in respect of his interiors which belong to his mind is in heaven, spiritual good and truth cannot flow into his life; and man is then in heaven when he both acknowledges the Divine and acts justly and honestly for the reason that he ought so to act because it is commanded in the Word. This is living justly and honestly for the sake of the Divine, and not for the sake of self and the world, as ends.
[3] But no one can so act until he has been taught, for example, that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is a life after death, that God ought to be loved above all things, and the neighbour as oneself, and that the things in the Word ought to be believed because the Word is Divine. Without a knowledge and acknowledgment of these things man is unable to think spiritually; and if he has no thought about them he does not will them; for what a man does not know he cannot think, and what he does not think he cannot will. So it is that when man wills these things then heaven flows into his life, that is, the Lord through heaven into the life of man; for the Lord flows into the will and through the will into the thought, and through both into the life, for the whole life of man is from these. All this makes clear that spiritual good and truth are learned not from the world but from heaven, and that no one can be prepared for heaven except by means of instruction.
[4] Moreover, so far as the Lord flows into the life of any one He instructs him, for so far He kindles the will with the love of knowing truths and enlightens the thought to know them; and so far as this is done, the interiors of man are opened and heaven is implanted in them; and furthermore, what is Divine and heavenly flows into the honest things pertaining to moral life and into the just things pertaining to civil life with man, and makes them spiritual, since man then does these things from the Divine, since they are done for the sake of the Divine. For the things honest and just pertaining to moral and civil life which a man does from that source are the very effects of spiritual life; and the effect derives its all from the effecting cause, since such as the cause is, such is the effect.
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512. LIII. THIRD STATE OF MAN AFTER DEATH, WHICH IS A STATE OF INSTRUCTION FOR THOSE WHO ENTER HEAVEN.
The third state of man after death, that is, of his spirit, is a state of instruction. This state is for those who enter heaven and become angels. It is not for those who enter hell, because such are incapable of being taught, and therefore their second state is also their third, ending in this, that they are wholly turned to their own love, thus to that infernal society which is in a like love. When this has been done they will and think from that love and as that love is infernal they will nothing but what is evil and think nothing but what is false; and in such thinking and willing they find their delights, because these belong to their love; and in consequence of this they reject everything good and true which they had previously adopted as serviceable to their love as means.
[2] Good spirits, on the other hand, are led from the second state into the third, which is the state of their preparation for heaven by means of instruction. For one can be prepared for heaven only by means of knowledges of good and truth, that is, only by means of instruction, since one can know what spiritual good and truth are, and what evil and falsity are, which are their opposites, only by being taught. One can learn in the world what civil and moral good and truth are, which are called justice and honesty, because there are civil laws in the world that teach what is just, and there is interaction with others whereby man learns to live in accordance with moral laws, all of which have relation to what is honest and right. But spiritual good and truth are learned from heaven, not from the world. They can be learned from the Word and from the doctrine of the church that is drawn from the Word and yet unless man in respect to his interiors which belong to his mind is in heaven spiritual good and truth cannot flow into his life; and man is in heaven when he both acknowledges the Divine and acts justly and honestly for the reason that he ought so to act because it is commanded in the Word. This is living justly and honestly for the sake of the Divine, and not for the sake of self and the world, as ends.
[3] But no one can so act until he has been taught, for example, that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is a life after death, that God ought to be loved supremely, and the neighbor as oneself, and that what is taught in the Word, ought to be believed because the Word is Divine. Without a knowledge and acknowledgment of these things man is unable to think spiritually; and if he has no thought about them he does not will them; for what a man does not know he cannot think, and what he does not think he cannot will. So it is when man wills these things that heaven flows into his life, that is, the Lord through heaven, for the Lord flows into the will and through the will into the thought, and through both into the life, and the whole life of man is from these. All this makes clear that spiritual good and truth are learned not from the world but from heaven, and that one can be prepared for heaven only by means of instruction.
[4] Moreover, so far as the Lord flows into the life of any one He instructs him, for so far He kindles the will with the love of knowing truths and enlightens the thought to know them; and so far as this is done the interiors of man are opened and heaven is implanted in them; and furthermore, what is Divine and heavenly flows into the honest things pertaining to moral life and into the just things pertaining to civil life in man, and makes them spiritual, since man then does these things from the Divine, which is doing them for the sake of the Divine. For the things honest and just pertaining to moral and civil life which a man does from that source are the essential effects of spiritual life; and the effect derives its all from the effecting cause, since such as the cause is such is the effect.
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512. [LIII.] DE TERTIO STATU HOMINIS POST MORTEM, QUI EST STATUS INSTRUCTIONIS EORUM QUI VENIUNT IN CAELUM.
Tertius status hominis post mortem, seu spiritus ejus, est status instructionis; hic status est illis qui in caelum veniunt, et fiunt angeli; non autem illis qui in infernum veniunt, quoniam hi non instrui possunt; quare horum status secundus est quoque tertius, qui finitur in eo, quod prorsus conversi sint ad suum amorem, ita ad societatem infernalem, quae in simili amore est. Cum hoc factum est, tunc ex amore illo volunt et cogitant; et quia amor ille est infernalis, non volunt nisi quam malum, et non cogitant nisi quam falsum; haec jucunda eorum sunt, quia sunt amoris eorum: ac inde rejiciunt omne bonum et verum, quae prius adoptaverunt, quia inserviverant amori suo pro mediis.
[2] At boni perducuntur a statu secundo in tertium, qui status est praeparationis illorum ad caelum per instructionem: nemo enim praeparari potest ad caelum, nisi quam per cognitiones boni et veri, ita nisi quam per instructionem nam nemo scire potest quid bonum et verum spirituale, et quid malum et falsum, quae illis opposita sunt, nisi instruatur. Quid bonum et verum civile et morale, quae justum et sincerum vocantur, sciri potest in mundo, quia ibi sunt leges civiles, quae docent quid justum, et quoque consortia, cum quibus homo discit vivere secundum leges morales, quae omnes se referunt ad sincerum et rectum: at bonum et verum spirituale, non discuntur e mundo sed e caelo. Sciri quidem possunt ex Verbo, et ex doctrina ecclesiae quae ex Verbo; sed usque non influere possunt in vitam, nisi homo quoad interiora quae mentis suae sunt, sit in caelo; et tunc homo in caelo est, quando agnoscit Divinum, et simul juste et sincere agit, quoniam ita agendum est quia praeceptum est in Verbo; sic juste et sincere vivit propter Divinum, et non propter semet et mundum, ut fines.
[3] Sed ita agere nemo potest, nisi prius instructus sit ut, quod Deus sit, quod caelum et infernum sint, quod vita post mortem sit, quod Deus supra omnia amandus sit, et quod proximus sicut ipse, et quod credenda sint quae in Verbo, quia Verbum est Divinum. Absque cognitione et agnitione horum homo non potest spiritualiter cogitare et absque cogitatione de illis non vult illa, nam quae homo non scit, non cogitare potest, et quae non cogitat non velle potest. Cum itaque homo vult illa, tunc influit caelum, hoc est, per caelum Dominus in vitam hominis; nam influit in voluntatem, et per illam in cogitationem, ac per utramque in vitam; nam omnis vita hominis est inde, Ex his patet, quod bonum et verum spirituale non discantur e mundo sed e caelo, et quod nullus praeparari possit ad caelum nisi media instructione. Quantum etiam Dominus influit in vitam alicujus, tantum instruit illum nam tantum accendit voluntatem amore sciendi vera, et tantum illustrat cogitationem ut sciat illa; et quantum haec fiunt, tantum aperiuntur interiora hominis, ac illis implantatur caelum; et adhuc, tantum influit Divinum et caeleste in sincera quae sunt vitae moralis, et in justa quae sunt vitae civilis apud hominem, ac facit illa spiritualia; quoniam homo tunc facit illa ex Divino, quia propter Divinum: sunt enim sincera et justa, quae sunt vitae moralis et civilis, quae homo ex illa origine facit, ipsi effectus vitae spiritualis et effectus omne suum trahit ex sua causa efficiente, nam qualis haec talis ille.