2835. There are distinct faculties or lives, one within another
It was shown to me out of heaven that there are distinct faculties of life, one within another, the outermost being that of the body and everything physical. That this outermost faculty is distinct and in itself separate from the inward one, is plain from the life of the human being when the body is separated. The spirit lives when the body has died, which could not possibly happen if it were not a distinct faculty, for it is separable and it is separated. But the spirit is, so to speak, a new containent of the inward faculties, for as I became clearly aware, it is spirits who occupy the inward realm, which is the inward faculty of spirits, and the outward one can be put off and they can thus come into the inward one, and from the inward faculty return into the outward one, as is plain to me from considerably much experience.
That there is a yet deeper faculty is proven from the case of angels, who have a yet
2835. THAT THERE ARE DISTINCT FACULTIES OR LIVES ONE WITHIN ANOTHER.
It was shown me from heaven that there are distinct faculties of life, one within another. The outermost belongs to the body and the things which are of the body. That this outermost faculty is distinct and separate in itself from the interior, is plain from the life of man when the body is removed, wherefore his spirit lives, when the body is dead, which could by no means happen unless it were distinct, for it can be separated, and is separated. But the spirit is, as it were, a new continent of interior faculties, as I plainly know that there are spirits in the interior sphere, which is the interior faculty of spirits: and that the exterior may be cast off, and thus [the spirit] come into the interior, and from the interior return into the exterior. This is evident to me from considerable experience. That there is a still more interior faculty is evident from angels, who are in a still more interior faculty.
2835. Quod distinctae facultates, seu vitae sint, una intra alteram
Ostensum mihi e coelo quod distinctae facultates vitae sint, una intra alteram, extima est corporis et eorum quae corporis sunt; quod facultas haec extima distincta et in se separata sit 1
ab interiore, constat ex vita hominis, corpore separato, quare spiritus ejus vivit, mortuo corpore, quod fieri nequicquam potuit, nisi distincta esset, nam separabilis, et separatur; sed spiritus est quasi novum continens facultatum interiorum, sicut manifeste novi, quod spiritus sint qui in interiori sphaera, quae est facultas spirituum interior: et quod exterior possit exui 2
, et [ii] sic venire in interiorem, et ab interiori redire in exteriorem, quod multa satis experientia mihi constat: quod interior adhuc facultas sit, constat ex
(2836.) angelis, qui in facultate adhuc interiori 3
sunt, tum quod intimior quoque detur, et intima, hae facultates in homine apparent sicut una, et ab ignotis tribuuntur soli corpori, et [putatur] quod inter se distinctae non sint, proinde non separabiles, cum tamen fateri possum, quod sciam ex multiplici experientia quod ita sit, et quod vita exteriorum sit 4
ordine interiorum, et vita interiorum sit intimiorum 5
, [et vita intimiorum sit intimorum,] et quod vita horum sit Solius Domini: ita putat homo quod vivat ex se, sicut putat ejus interior spiritus, quod vivat in corpore. 1748, 16 Aug.
Footnotes:
1. This is how it appears in J.F.I. Tafel's edition; the Manuscript has sint
2. This is how it appears in J.F.I. Tafel's edition; the Manuscript has exuit
3. The Manuscript has intriori
4. This is how it appears in J.F.I. Tafel's edition; the Manuscript has sint
5. In the Manuscript intimorum in intimiorum emendatum