27.⑷由于今后所有将要出生的人也会进入灵界，所以显而易见，灵界规模庞大，并且具有这样的性质，各个星球上的人所住的自然界根本无法与之相比。这一点从自创世之初以来已经进入并聚集在灵界的不计其数的人明显看出来，从未来加入他们的不断增长的人类也可以推断出来；并且这一过程是永无止境的，如前所示（6-13节），因为人类在地上的繁衍将永不止息。
当我的眼睛（译注：灵眼）被打开时，我有时会看到已经在那里的人数量何等庞大，多到几乎数不清，因为仅仅在一个地方和一个区域就有千千万万的。那么其它地方又必有多少人呢？那里的所有人都聚集成各个社群，这些社群为数众多，各在其位的每个社群形成三层天堂和它们之下的三层地狱。因此，有些人在高处，有些人在中间，有些人在他们下面；有些人在他们之下的最低区域或地狱。那些在上层的人就像世人住在城市那样毗邻而居，总计有数十万人。由此明显可知，从那里的人数来看，世人所住的自然界无法与灵界相比。所以当一个人从自然界跨入灵界时，就好像从一个小村子来到一座大城市。
就质量而言，自然界也无法与灵界相比，这一点从以下证据明显看出来，即：存在于自然界的一切事物，灵界都有；除此之外，灵界还有无数这个世界上从未看见，或不能看见的事物，因为灵界的一切属灵事物都按自己的独特方式以一种看似属世事物的形式来体现，并且各都具有无限的多样性。属灵事物卓越上远远超越属世事物，以至于能被属世感官所感知的事物很少；对于从属灵心智所接受的东西，属世感官从中连千分之一都接受不到。属灵心智的一切活动，都以那里的人看得见的形式来呈现。这就是灵界的宏伟壮观景象无法描述的原因。而且这些会随着在天堂的人类数目增多而增长，因为那里的一切事物都以对应于各人在爱与信，因而在聪明与智慧上的状态的形式来显现。因此，随着人数的增长，它们的多样性也不断增长。这就是为何那些被提入天堂的人都说，他们在那里所看见和听见的东西，都是眼睛未曾看见，耳朵未曾听见的。
这些证据足以证实，灵界具有这种性质：自然界无法与之相比。至于它是什么样，可参看《天堂与地狱》一书，那里论述了天堂的两个国度（20-28节）；天堂社群（41-50节）；天堂里的代表和表象（170-176节）；天堂天使的智慧（265-275节）。然而，那里所描述的事物还是极少数的。
27. Since everyone who is going to be born from now on is also going to enter the spiritual world, clearly that world is so extraordinary in both size and nature that this physical world, where people live on various planets, cannot be compared to it. This follows from the vast multitude of people who have made the transition into the spiritual world since creation first occurred and who are now all there at once, as well as from the constant increase still to come as a result of humankind entering from now on-and this without end, as was shown in an earlier chapter: “The Reproduction of Humankind on Earth Will Never Cease” (6-13).
[2] Several times when my eyes have been opened I have been granted glimpses of the vast multitude of people there already-so many that they could scarcely be numbered, myriad upon myriad, and this in just one section of one region. How many must there be, then, in all the rest?
You see, the people there are all gathered into communities, and there are a great many communities. Each one is in its own place and contributes to form three heavens and three hells beneath them. 1This means that one kind of people lives in the heights there, another in the middle elevations, another below them, and another in the lowest regions or hells underneath. Somewhat the way people in this world live in cities, people in the higher regions there live near each other, up to hundreds of thousands together. Therefore given the sheer quantity of human inhabitants there, clearly this physical world, where people live on various planets, cannot be compared to it. When someone from this earthly world crosses over into the spiritual world, it is like moving from a village to a great city.
[3] In quality as well, the spiritual world is beyond comparison with this world. This becomes clear from the fact that all the things that exist in the physical world are found in the spiritual world as well, but in addition there are countless other things there, things that have never been seen and could never be seen here. This is because all the spiritual things in that world are embodied in their own unique way in a form that appears to be earthly, and these forms are infinitely varied. The cause underlying this fact in turn is that what is spiritual is so much more exquisite than what is earthly that very little of it can be brought forth to our earthly senses, since our earthly senses cannot take in even a thousandth of what the spiritual mind takes in; yet everything that happens in the spiritual mind is presented to spirits in visible form. This is why there is no way to describe how wonderful and stunning the spiritual world is. These characteristics are intensified, too, as the number of people in the heavens grows, since everything seen there is presented in forms corresponding to the states of each individual's love and faith and consequent intelligence and wisdom. So the variety of things there is constantly increasing in proportion to the increase in population. This is why people who have been raised into heaven say that they have seen and heard there what no eye has ever seen and no ear has ever heard. 2
[4] All this may serve to show that by nature the spiritual world is such that the physical world cannot be compared to it.
For more on the nature of that world, see Heaven and Hell where it deals with heaven's two kingdoms 3(20-28), heaven's communities (41-50), representations and appearances in heaven (170-176), and the wisdom of heaven's angels (265-275)-but even there, only a very few features are described.
Footnotes:
1. On the three heavens and three hells mentioned here, see note 2 in New Jerusalem 4 above. [Editors]
2. “What no eye has ever seen and no ear has ever heard” is an allusion to 1 Corinthians 2:9, which is a slightly rearranged Greek translation of Isaiah 64:4. Another possible allusion is to 2 Corinthians 12:4, which mentions someone who was taken up into heaven “and heard things that are not to be told” (New Revised Standard Version). On the importance of seeing and hearing in Swedenborg's works, see note 2 in Last Judgment 17. [GFD, LSW]
3. On the two kingdoms of heaven mentioned here, see note 5 in New Jerusalem 4. [Editors]
27. Since all who will be born hereafter will come into the spiritual world, that world must be of such size and nature that the natural world inhabited by people on earth cannot be compared with it. This is evident from the countless multitude of people who since the beginning of creation have passed into the spiritual world and are gathered there. It is also to be deduced from the constant future increase of the human race which will add to them; and there will be no end to this, as was shown in an earlier chapter (nos. 6-13) since the reproduction of the human race on earth will not come to an end.
[2] I have several times seen, when my eyes were opened, what a countless multitude of people there is there already. It was so great it could hardly be counted, for there were tens of thousands in only one place and one district. So how many must there be in the rest? All there are gathered into communities, which are very numerous, and each community in its own position forms three heavens with three hells beneath. So there are some who are high up, some mid-way, some beneath them, and there are some in the lowest regions or hells under them. Those in the upper levels live like people in cities with populations as large as some hundreds of thousands. From this it is plain that the natural world, inhabited by people on earth, cannot be compared to that world in point of the numbers of people there. So when a person passes from the natural world into the spiritual, it is like going from a village to a large city.
[3] Neither can the natural world be compared with the spiritual in terms of its character. A further proof of that is that not only do all the things appear there which exist in the natural world, but countless more in addition, never seen in this world nor capable of being seen. For there spiritual things are expressed each according to its own model, looking like natural things and with infinite variety between them. The spiritual surpasses the natural in quality to such an extent that there are few things which can be perceived by natural senses; for these do not grasp a thousandth part of what the spiritual mind can. All the activity of the spiritual mind is expressed in forms visible to people there. This is why the magnificent and astonishing sights of the spiritual world are indescribable. These too are increasing as the numbers of the human race in the heavens multiply. For everything there takes on the appearance of forms corresponding to each person's state in respect of love and faith, and hence of intelligence and wisdom. Thus as the numbers increase, so continually does their variety. That is why people who have been raised up into heaven have said that they saw and heard there what no eye has ever seen and no ear has ever heard.
[4] These proofs are enough to establish that the spiritual world is such that the natural world cannot be compared with it. See further on what it is like in HEAVEN AND HELL, in the sections on the two kingdoms of heaven (20-28); the communities of heaven (41-50); representations and appearances in heaven (170-176); and the wisdom of the angels of heaven (265-275) But the descriptions there are only a small selection.
27. IV. Because all, who are to be born hereafter, must also come into the spiritual world, that world is so vast and such, that the natural world, in which men are on earth, cannot be compared with it; this is evident from the immense multitude of men who have passed into the spiritual world since the first creation, and who are together there; as well as from the continual increase hereafter from the human race, which will be added to them, and this without end, according to what has been shown above, in an article for the purpose (6-13), namely, that the procreations of the human race on the earths will never cease. When my eyes have been opened, it has sometimes been granted me to see how immense, even now, is the multitude of men who are there; it is so great that it can scarcely be numbered, such myriads are there, and this only in one place, towards one quarter; what then must the numbers be in the other quarters? For all are there collected into societies, and the societies exist in vast numbers, and each society, in its own place, forms three heavens, and three hells under them; wherefore there are some who are on high, some who are in the middle, and some who are below them; and underneath, there are those who are in the lowest places, or in the hells; and those who are above dwell among themselves as men dwell in cities, in which hundreds of thousands are together. Whence it is evident, that the natural world, the abode of men on earth, cannot be compared with that world, as regards the multitude of the human race; so that when man passes from the natural world into the spiritual, it is like going from a village into a great city. That the natural world cannot be compared with the spiritual world as to quality, may appear from this, that not only have all the things which are in the natural world an existence there, but innumerable others besides, which never were seen in this world, nor can be presented to the sight, for spiritual things there are effigied each to its own type by appearances, as if natural, each with an infinite variety; for the spiritual so far exceeds the natural in excellence, that the things are few which can be produced to the natural sense; the natural sense not receiving one of the thousands which the spiritual mind receives; and all things which belong to the spiritual mind, are presented, even in forms to their sight. This is the reason why it is impossible to describe what the spiritual world is, as regards its magnificent and stupendous things. These moreover increase in proportion to the multiplication of the human race in the heavens, for all things are there presented in forms which correspond to the state of each as to love and faith, and thence as to intelligence and wisdom; thus with a variety which increases continually, as the multitude increases. Whence it has been said by those who have been elevated into heaven, that they saw and heard things there, which no eye has ever seen, and no ear has ever heard. From these things, it may appear that the spiritual world is such, that the natural world can not be compared with it. Moreover, what it is, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, where it treats of the two Kingdoms of Heaven (20-28). Of the Societies of Heaven (41-50) Of representatives and Appearances in Heaven (170-176). Of the Wisdom of the Angels of Heaven (265-275). The things there described, however, are very few.
27. ((iv.)) Quia omnes, qui nascentur posthac, etiam venturi sint in mundum spiritualem, quod is mundus tantus sit et talis, ut ei mundus naturalis, in quo sunt homines in terris, non aequiparari possit, constat ab immensa multitudine hominum qui a prima creatione transiverunt in mundum spiritualem, et ibi simul sunt; tum ex incrementis continuis posthac ex humano genere, quod illis accessurum est, et hoc absque fine, secundum illa quae supra in suo articulo (6-13) ostensa sunt, quod nempe procreationes generis humani in terris nusquam cessaturae sint. Quam immensa multitudo hominum jamdum ibi sit, aliquoties videre datum est, quum aperti mihi sunt oculi; erat tanta ut numerari vix posset; fuerunt aliquot myriades, et hoc solum in uno loco ad unam plagam: quid non in reliquis? Sunt enim ibi omnes collecti in societates, et societates sunt multo numero, et unaquaevis societas in suo loco format tres caelos, et sub illis tria inferna; quare sunt qui in editis ibi, sunt qui in mediis, sunt qui infra illos, et sunt qui in infimis seu infernis sub illis; et superiores inter se habitant sicut habitant homines in civitatibus, in quibus simul sunt ad centena millia: inde patet quod mundus naturalis, in quo sunt homines in terris, illi mundo quoad copiam generis humani aequiparari nequeat; quapropter cum homo e mundo naturali transit in spiritualem, est sicut e villa in magnam civitatem. Quod mundus naturalis nec aequiparari queat mundo spirituali quoad quale, constare etiam potest ex eo, quod non modo omnia existant ibi quae in mundo naturali, sed insuper innumerabilia plura, quae nusquam visa sunt in hoc mundo, nec possunt ad visum sisti; nam ibi spiritualia effigiantur ad omnem suum typum, in apparentia quasi naturali, et singula cum infinita varietate; nam spirituale excellentia excedit naturale in tantum, ut pauca sint quae ad sensum naturalem possint produci; nam sensus naturalis non capit unum ex millibus quae capit mens spiritualis; et omnia quae sunt mentis spiritualis sistuntur etiam in formis coram visu eorum: inde est, quod mundus spiritualis non describi possit qualis est quoad sua magnifica, et quoad sua stupenda. Haec quoque increscunt secundum multiplicationem generis humani in caelis, nam omnia sistuntur ibi in formis correspondentibus cujusvis statui quoad amorem et fidem, et inde intelligentiam et sapientiam; ita cum varietate continue increscente secundum crescentem multitudinem. Inde est, quod ab illis qui in caelum elevati sunt, dictum sit, quod ibi viderint et ibi audiverint quae nusquam aliquis oculus vidit, nec aliqua auris audivit. Ex his constare potest, quod mundus spiritualis talis sit, ut ei mundus naturalis aequiparari nequeat. Porro, qualis est, videatur in opere De Caelo et Inferno, ubi actum est, De duobus Regnis Caeli (20-28); De Societatibus Caeli (41-50); De Repraesentativis et Apparentiis in Caelo (170-176); et De Sapientia Angelorum Caeli (265-275): sed ibi perpauca sunt, quae descripta.