403. 三種愛被合理安排時, 能使人變得更完全; 若非如此, 則會使人墮落, 令人倒轉首先要說說這三種普遍之愛(對天國之愛,對世界之愛與對自己的愛)的優先次序。然後再討論其中一種愛如何被引進另一種,並作用和影響另一種。最後要討論, 人的狀態取決於這種優先次序。
這三種愛彼此關聯, 如同一個身體的三個區域:最上面的頭,中間的胸腹,下面的大小腿和腳。當愛天國構成頭部, 愛世界構成胸腹, 愛自己構成腿腳, 於是人就被造于完美的狀態; 因為兩種稍低層的愛(愛世界與愛自己)服務於最高層的愛(愛天國), 如同胸腹與腿腳服務於頭部。
因此, 當愛天國構成頭部時, 這樣的愛便流注到愛世界(主要指愛財富)之中, 並利用財富去做有用的事情。這樣的愛還通過愛世界而流注到愛自己(主要指愛榮譽)之中, 並利用這些榮譽去做有用的事情。因此, 一種愛流注到下一種愛使得這三種愛為了去做有用之事而抱成一團。
[2]每個人都能明白, 當人們打算去做有用的事情時, 是被從主而來的屬靈之愛(就是"愛天國"的意思)所驅動。於是屬世之人利用他的財產和其它所有物來達成這些有用之事, 感官導向者運用他的地位來達成, 這便是他的榮譽。
每個人還明白, 用身體所做的任何行為都取決於他頭腦中的精神狀態。倘若人的思想在於熱愛履行服務, 那麼身體就會利用四肢來達成這些服務的行為。這是因為意志與認知起始於頭腦中, 在身體中得到延展, 正如意志呈現于行為中,認知呈現於言辭中。
作個比方, 這就像種子結果的能力呈現於一棵樹的每個部分, 各部分用來達成這個目的——也就是產生果實。或者另一個比方, 就像水晶花瓶中的火與光, 使得花瓶發熱閃光。思想中的屬靈視力與身體中的自然視力也是如此, 只要這三種愛(愛天國,愛世界與愛自己)按優先次序適當安排, 從主而來的光便通過天國流入, 就好像石榴果實的半透明,直到種子所在的中心部分。
主所說的這些話與以上的意思相近:"眼睛就是身上的燈。你的眼睛若瞭亮, 全身就光明"(馬太福音6:22;路加福音11:34)。
[3]沒哪個明智之人會詛咒財富, 它在整個社會中所扮演的角色如同人體內的血液。只要他們屬世和感官之愛屈從於屬靈之愛, 也沒哪個明智之人會詛咒不同行業的各種榮譽, 因為各行各業是君王的膀臂與社會的支柱。在天國也有各種行政職務, 各有自己的榮譽, 但是充當此任的人們最大的愛便是發揮各自的用處, 他們是屬靈人。
403. When the Three Universal Categories of Love Are Prioritized in the Right Way They Improve Us; When They Are Not Prioritized in the Right Way They Damage Us and Turn Us Upside Down
First I will say something about the prioritization of the three universal categories of love: love for heaven, love for the world, and love for ourselves. Then I will talk about the inflow and integration of one into the other. Finally I will discuss the effect of their prioritization on our state.
These three loves relate to each other as do the three areas of the body: the highest is the head; the middle is the chest and abdomen; and our thighs, lower legs, and feet make up the third. When our love for heaven constitutes the head, our love for the world constitutes the chest and abdomen, and our love for ourselves constitutes the lower legs and feet, then we are in the perfect state we were created to be in. In this state the two lower categories of love serve the higher category the way the body and everything in it serves the head.
Therefore when a love for heaven constitutes the head, this love flows into our love for the world, which is chiefly a love for wealth, and takes advantage of that wealth to do useful things; our love for heaven also flows through our love for the world into our love for ourselves, which is chiefly a love for having a high position, and takes advantage of that high position to do useful things. Therefore an inflow from one love into the next allows the three categories of love to join forces in order to do useful things.
[2] Surely everyone realizes that when people intend to do useful things because they are moved by spiritual love coming from the Lord (which is what "love for heaven" means), their earthly self uses its wealth and other goods to achieve those useful things, and their sense-oriented self carries them out as part of its position and derives honor from so doing.
Surely everyone also realizes that all the things we do with our body we do from the state of mind in our head. If our mind has a love for acts of service, our body uses its limbs to perform acts of service. Our body will do this because our will and intellect have their primary structures in our head and the derivations of those primary structures in our body, so that our will is present in what we do and our thinking is present in what we say.
Likewise the reproductive impetus in a seed affects each and every part of a tree and uses those parts to produce pieces of fruit as its acts of service. Or for another example, fire and light inside a clear container make the container hot and bright. In people whose three categories of love have been prioritized in the right and proper way, their mind's spiritual sight and their body's physical sight are translucent to the light that flows in through heaven from the Lord, just as a pomegranate is translucent all the way through to the center where the seeds are stored.
Something comparable is meant by the following words of the Lord: "Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eye is whole, that is, good, your entire body is full of light" (Matthew 6:22; Luke 11:34).
[3] No one whose reason is sound could condemn wealth. Wealth in the general body politic is like blood in us. No one whose reason is sound could condemn the levels of status that go with different jobs - they are the monarchs hands and the pillars of society, provided a spiritual love for status takes priority over an earthly and sense-oriented love for it. In fact, there are government positions in heaven and there is status that goes with them; but because the people who fill these positions are spiritual, the thing they love the most is to be useful.
403. II. When the three loves are duly subordinated, they increase a person's perfection; but when they are not, they corrupt and turn him upside down.
Something must first be said about how the three universal loves - love of heaven, love of the world and self-love - are subordinated one to another. Then I shall discuss the way one is introduced into another and exerts an effect upon it; and finally how a person's state depends upon this subordination. The three loves are related like the three regions of the body; the highest is the head, the middle one is the chest and belly, the third the knees, feet and soles of the feet. When the love of heaven makes up the head, the love of the world the chest and belly, and self-love the feet and soles, then a person is in the perfect state for which he was created, since then the two lower loves are at the service of the highest, just as the body and all its parts are at the service of the head. So when the love of heaven makes up the head, this then exerts its influence on the love of the world, which is chiefly the love of wealth, and employs wealth in order to perform services; and through the medium of the love of the world it influences self-love, which is chiefly the love of honours and employs these in order to perform services. Thus the influence each of these loves exerts on another makes all these three loves aim at being of service.
[2] Can anyone fail to understand that when a person wishes to perform services because he is moved by spiritual love - that is, love from the Lord, or what is meant by the love of heaven - it is the natural man who does them by means of his wealth and other possessions, and the sensual man who employs his offices for their production, and this is his honour? Again can anyone fail to understand that all the deeds a person performs with his body are dependent upon the mental state in his head, and if his mind is set on the love of services, the body performs them by means of its limbs? This is because the will and the understanding are present in their origins in the head, but in the derivatives from these in the body, just as the will is present in deeds and thought in the utterances of speech. As a comparison, it is like the fructifying power of the seed present in every single part of a tree, which it employs to serve its purposes, namely to produce its fruits. It is also like fire and light inside a crystal vase, which by their effect becomes warm and shines. So it is with the spiritual vision in the mind and equally the natural vision in the body in the case of a person in whom the three loves are properly and duly subordinated, as the result of the light which flows in from the Lord through heaven; this can be likened to the pomegranate which is translucent to the centre, where the seed-container is. The meaning of these words of the Lord is similar:
The eye is the lamp of the body; if the eye is single (that is, good), the whole body is full of light, Matthew 6:22; Luke 11:34.
[3] No sane person can condemn wealth, for in the body politic it plays the part blood plays in the person; nor can he condemn the honours attached to offices, for officials are the king's hands and pillars of society, so long as their natural and sensual loves are subordinated to spiritual love. There are administrative offices in heaven too, and these have honours attached to them, but those who discharge these offices have no greater love than the performance of services, because they are spiritual people.
403. II. THESE THREE LOVES, WHEN RIGHTLY SUBORDINATED, PERFECT MAN, BUT WHEN NOT RIGHTLY SUBORDINATED, THEY PERVERT AND INVERT HIM.
Something shall first be said of the subordination of these three universal loves, which are the love of heaven, the love of the world, and the love of self, and then of the influx and insertion of one into the other, and finally of man's state according to that subordination. These three loves are related to each other like the three regions of the body, the highest of which is the head; the intermediate, the chest and abdomen, while the knees and feet and soles of the feet form the third. When the love of heaven constitutes the head, love of the world the chest and abdomen, and love of self the feet and their soles, man is in a perfect state in accordance with his creation, because the two lower loves then minister to the highest, as the body and all its parts minister to the head. So when the love of heaven constitutes the head, it flows into the love of the world, which is chiefly a love of wealth, and by means of wealth it performs uses; and through this latter love it flows mediately into the love of self, which is chiefly the love of dignities, and by means of these dignities it performs uses. Thus do these three loves, by the influx of one into the other, breathe forth uses.
[2] Who does not comprehend, that when a man desires to perform uses from spiritual love, which is from the Lord and is what is meant by the love of heaven, his natural man performs them by means of his wealth and his other goods (the sensual man cooperating in its function), and that it is to his honor to produce them? Who does not also comprehend that all the works that a man does with his body are done according to the state of his mind in the head; and if the mind is in the love of uses, the body by means of its members accomplishes them? And this is so, because the will and the understanding in their principles are in the head, and in their derivatives in the body, as the will is in deeds, and the thought in speech, and comparatively as the prolific principle of the seed is in the whole tree and in every part of it, and through these produces fruit, which is its use. Or it is like fire and light within a crystalline vase which thereby becomes warm and shows the light through it. And again, the spiritual sight of the mind together with the natural sight of the body, in one in whom these three loves are truly and rightly subordinated, because of the light that flows in through heaven from the Lord, may be likened to an African apple, which is transparent to the very center, where there is the repository of the seeds. Something like this is meant by these words of the Lord,
The lamp of the body is the eye; if the eye be single (that is, sound), the whole body is full of light (Matthew 6:22; Luke 11:34).
[3] No man of sound reason can condemn wealth, for it is in the general body like the blood in a man; nor can he condemn the honors attached to office, for they are the hands of the king and the pillars of society, provided the natural and sensual love of them is subordinated to spiritual love. Moreover, there are administrative offices in heaven and honors attached to them; but those who administer them love nothing better than to perform uses, because they are spiritual.
403. II. THESE THREE LOVES, WHEN THEY ARE RIGHTLY SUBORDINATED, MAKE A MAN PERFECT; BUT WHEN NOT RIGHTLY SUBORDINATED, THEY PERVERT AND INVERT HIM.
Something shall first be said concerning the subordination of these three universal loves, the love of heaven, the love of the world, and the love of self; then concerning the influx and insertion of one into another; and lastly, concerning man's state according to their subordination. These three loves are related to each other like the divisions of the body, of which the highest is the head, the breast with the belly the middle, and the knees, feet and soles of the feet form the third. When the love of heaven is the head, and the love of the world the breast with the belly, and the love of self the feet with the soles of the feet, then man is in a perfect state according to creation; for then the two lower loves subserve the highest, just as the body and all its parts subserve the head. Accordingly, when the love of heaven is the head, it descends by influx into the love of the world, which consists chiefly in the love of riches, and by their instrumentality it performs uses. Then by means of this love it descends into the love of self, which is chiefly the love of high position, and by means of this also it performs uses. These three loves, therefore, conspire to promote uses, by the influx of the one into the other.
[2] Who does not see that when a man from spiritual love, which is from the Lord and is meant by the love of heaven, desires to perform uses, then the natural man performs them by means of his riches and other possessions, and the sensual man collaborates in his own way, and finds honor in their performance? Moreover, who does not understand that a man's actions in the body are done according to the state of his mind in his head, and that if the mind is in the love of uses, the body, by means of its members performs them? The reason of this is that the will and the understanding are in their first principles in the head, and are in what derived from these in the body, just as a man's will is in his deeds, and his thought in his speech; or, to extend the comparison, as the prolific principle of the seed is in all the parts of a tree by means of which it produces fruit, which are its uses; or as fire and its light within a crystal vase make it warm and translucent. Further, when these loves are justly and rightly subordinated in a man, the spiritual sight of his mind and the natural sight of his body, because of the light which flows into them through heaven from the Lord, may be likened to the African apple, which is transparent to the centre where its seeds are stored. Something similar is meant by these words of the Lord:
"The light of the body is the eye: if the eye be single (that is, good), the whole body is full of light" Matthew 6:22; Luke 11:34.
[3] No man of sound reason can condemn riches, for in the body of the state they are like the blood in man; nor can he condemn the honors attached to public offices, because they are the hands of a king and the pillars of the state, provided the natural and sensual loves of those holding office subordinated to spiritual love. There are also administrative offices in heaven, and dignities attached to them; but those who fill them love nothing more than to perform uses, because they are spiritual.
403. Quod tres illi Amores, dum rite subordinati sunt, perficiant hominem, at dum non rite subordinati sunt, pervertant et invertant illum.
Prius aliquid de Subordinatione trium Universalium illorum Amorum, qui sunt Amor Coeli, Amor Mundi, et Amor sui, dicetur, et postea de influxu et insertione unius in alterum, et demum de statu hominis secundum subordinationem. Tres illi Amores inter se, sunt sicut tres Regiones corporis, quarum suprema est Caput, media est Pectus cum Ventre, et tertiam faciunt Genua, Pedes, et Plantae. Quando Amor Coeli facit Caput, Amor mundi pectus cum ventre, et amor sui pedes cum plantis, tunc homo est in perfecto statu secundum creationem; quoniam tunc duo inferiores Amores inserviunt supremo, sicut Corpus et ejus omnia Capiti: cum itaque Amor Coeli facit Caput, tunc influit hic in Amorem Mundi, qui principaliter est Amor opum, et per has facit usus, et mediate per hunc in Amorem sui, qui principaliter est amor dignitatum, et per has facit usus; ita tres illi Amores spirant usus ex influxu unius in alterum.
[2] Quis non comprehendit, quod dum homo ex Spirituali Amore, qui est a Domino, et est qui intelligitur per Amorem Coeli, vult facere usus, Naturalis homo faciat illos per opes et per alia bona ejus, et Sensualis homo in sua functione, et quod ejus honor sit producere illos. Quis etiam non comprehendit, quod omnia opera, quae homo facit corpore, fiant secundum statum mentis ejus in Capite, et quod si Mens in Amore usuum est, Corpus per sua membra hos efficiat; et hoc fit, quia Voluntas et Intellectus in suis principiis est in Capite, et in suis principiatis in Corpore, sicut voluntas in factis, et cogitatio in loquelis, et comparative, sicut est prolificum seminis in omnibus et singulis arboris, per quae producit fructus, qui sunt usus ejus; et est sicut ignis et lux intus in vase Chrystallino, quod ex illis calefit et pellucet; et quoque Visus spiritualis in Mente, et simul Visus naturalis in corpore, apud illum, in quo tres illi amores juste et rite subordinati sunt, ex luce quae influit per Coelum a Domino, assimilari potest Pomo Africano, quod usque ad medium, ubi est theca seminum, pellucet: simile quid intelligitur per haec Domini verba, Lucerna corporis est Oculus; si Oculus simplex, hoc est, bonus est, totum Corpus est lucidum, Matthaeus 6:22; Luca 11:34.
[3] Nullus homo sanae rationis potest damnare opes, sunt enim in communi Corpore sicut sanguis in homine; nec potest damnare honores functionibus addictos, sunt enim Regis manus et Societatis columnae, modo amores naturales et sensuales illorum subordinati sunt amori spirituali: sunt etiam administrationes in Coelo, et illis dignitates adjectae, at qui funguntur illis, nihil plus amant quam usus facere, quia spirituales sunt.