697.记事六：
一次，我看到不远处显现一个气象，只见一团云分成许多小团，有的蓝色，有的黑色。它们互相碰撞，划出道道光线，时而像利刃，时而像钝剑，时而刺射，时而收回，仿佛一场激战。不同颜色的云朵就这样碰撞着，不过这并非真的战斗。由于相离不远，我举目仔细观看，见许多男子正进入一座殿，有少年，有青年，有老年。殿基是大理石和花斑岩的，我看到的气象就发生在殿的上空。我向一个正要进殿的人询问来由，他说这是一座学院，年轻人来这里获得各种智慧。
听到这话，我随他们一同进殿。当时我在灵里，换言之，我与灵界的精灵和天人处于一样的状态。我看到大厅前面有一个讲台，中间有许多长凳，四围有许多座椅，入口对面有一排座位。讲台是为轮流作答的年轻人，长凳是为听众，座椅是为已经作答的人，前排座位是为作评判的长者。座位中间有一个讲坛，称为院长的智者坐在那里。问题由他提出，年轻人就到讲台作答。各就各位以后，院长站起来说：“现在请回答如下问题，什么是灵魂，它的性质又是什么？”
听到这个问题，在座的人面面相觑，窃窃私语。有几个坐在长凳上的人惊呼：“从上古时代直到如今，有谁靠自己冥思苦想，弄懂了什么是灵魂呢？更别说灵魂的性质了！毫无疑问，这问题是远远超出人的思维能力！”但坐在前排的人却回答说：“这问题并不超出人的理解能力，是可以思考明白的。你们回答就行了。”当天被选中的年轻人就依次站起来，到讲台回答问题。共有五人，他们经长者鉴定，被认为是相当聪明的，正坐在靠近讲台的沙发上。他们照就座的顺序，轮流走上讲台。每个人上台时都要穿一件白色丝绸外衣，再披一件织着花纹的细羊毛长袍，头戴一顶礼帽，上面扎一束由许多小蓝宝石围绕的玫瑰花饰。
第一位穿戴完毕，走上讲台说：“自从创世以来，灵魂是什么，其性质又是什么，还没有启示给任何人，尚隐藏在独一神的宝库中。但人们至少发现，灵魂就像一位女王，居住在人体内。但女王的宫殿何在，学者们还只是猜测。有的认为在大小脑之间的结节上，就是称为松果腺的地方。他们猜测灵魂的宝座在此，因为整个人是受大脑与小脑的支配，而大脑与小脑又由松果腺来协调。所以，能随意支配大脑与小脑的，必能从头到脚支配整个人。世上有很多人认为这种观点是正确的，至少是大有可能的，但后来又被认为是纯属想象。”
说完以后，他脱下长袍、外衣，摘下礼帽。第二位就穿上，登上讲台。他认为遍及整个天堂和人间，没有人知道灵魂是什么，其性质又是什么。他说：“我们都知道灵魂的存在，它就在人里面，但到底在哪，还只是猜测。不过有一点倒可以确定，就是它位于头部，因为理性在此思考，意愿在此作决定。再者，人的五种感官都在头的面部，唯独住在头部的灵魂给它们带来生命力。但其具体位置在哪，我不敢妄下定论。有的认为在三个脑室，有的认为在纹状体，有的认为在两脑的髓质，有的认为在大脑皮层，有的认为在硬脑膜。我觉得这些说法都有一定的道理和根据。赞成位于三个脑室的人，其理由是，它是精神和大脑各种淋巴的容器。赞成位于纹状体的人，其理由是，它构成神经赖以传递信息、两脑与脊柱得以连接的骨髓，从脊柱发出的神经纤维再将整个人体有机结合起来。赞成位于两脑髓质的人，其理由是，它是所有神经纤维的集结，构成整个人的雏形。赞成位于大脑皮质的人，其理由是，它是所有神经纤维的起点，因而也是所有感官和运动的起点，可以说，人的始与末都在这里。赞成位于硬脑膜的人，其理由是，它是两脑共有的保护性覆盖物，并延伸到心脏和其它脏腑。在我看来，这些观点难分高下。所以请你们自己选择和决定最佳的答案。”
说完以后，他走下讲台，将长袍、外衣和礼帽交给第三位。第三位就上台，说：“像我这般年纪的人，怎能参透如此高深的问题呢？请问坐在四围的学者，坐在前排的智者，更请问最上层天的天人，谁能凭自己的理性对灵魂有任何了解呢？至于灵魂在哪，我倒有个不错的猜想。我认为它位于心脏，因此也渗透到血液中。我的理由是，心脏通过血液支配身体和大脑。从心脏发出一条大动脉，贯通全身，又发出一条颈动脉，贯通大脑。人们因此普遍承认，灵魂通过心脏流出的血液维持、滋养包括身体和大脑的整个生命机体，赋予人生命活力。此外，圣经多次提到‘心与灵’，这也是一个原因。例如，人当尽心尽意爱神，神要给人造一个新心和一个新灵（申命记6:5；10:12；11:13；26:16；耶利米书32:41；马太福音22:37；马可福音12:30，33；路加福音10:27等等），甚至明说活物的生命是在血中（利未记17:11，14）。”听到这些话，台下一些神职人员高呼：“你太有才了！”
然后，第四位穿戴好服装和礼帽，走上讲台，说：“我也觉得没有人具备此等智慧，竟能参透灵魂及其性质。因此我想，任何试图参透灵魂的人，必定费尽心思，徒劳无功。但我从小就坚信古人的观点，认为灵魂内住于整个人体，贯通于身体各个部位，同时存在于大脑和躯体。现代学者将灵魂限定于某个部位，而不是整个人体，这是徒劳无益的发明。再者，灵魂是一种灵质，不能赋予空间和位置的属性，只能说是内住和充满。还有，当人提到灵魂的时候，谁不是理解为生命呢？而生命不是存在于整个人体和各个部位吗？”许多听众赞同这种观点。
随后第五位依样穿戴，走上讲台，说：“我不大在乎灵魂到底在哪，是在某个部位还是在整个人体。然而对于灵魂是什么，有怎样的性质，我愿意说说自己的观点。人们都将灵魂想象为某种纯于自然的东西，可以比作气或风，内含理性的活力。这是人高于动物的地方。人死的时候，我们就说他呼出了他的灵魂，吐出了最后一口气。我的观点就是基于这个事实。因此，死后继续活着的灵魂被人认为是气一般的存在，内含思想的活力。除此之外，灵魂还能是什么？不过我先前听前排的长者说，该问题并未超出人的理性，是可以明白的，我就索性请你们自己来解开这千古之谜。”
前排的诸位长者就望向提出问题的院长。院长看到他们点头，示意他下去给以解答，就立时从讲坛下来，穿过会众，登上讲台，伸手示意，说：“请听我说。谁不认为灵魂是一个人至深至微的本质呢？然而，本质能脱离形体而存在吗？没有形体的本质不等于虚构幻想吗？故此，灵魂必有形状，至于是怎样的形状，下面我就加以解释。它是爱的一切元素与智慧的一切元素的形状。爱的一切元素称为情感，智慧的一切元素称为觉知。情感和觉知共同构成一个整体，这个整体包含无以数计的元素，它们井然有序地凝聚为一个连贯的整体。称为整体，因为它无可取走，也无可加添。人的灵魂不就是这样一种形状吗？爱的一切元素和智慧的一切元素不就是此形状的要素吗？这些要素存在于人的灵魂里，并通过灵魂存在于人的大脑和身体里。”
“你们被称为精灵或天人；尚在尘世的时候，你们曾以为精灵和天人是风或气一样的存在，就是人的思想或意向。但现在你们已清楚地看到，你们是实实在在的人，曾在尘体内生活和思想的人。你们也知道使人活着和思考的不是尘体，而是尘体内的灵质。你们将其称为灵魂，只是不知它呈什么形状。但如今你们已看见灵魂，你们都是灵魂，曾多多听闻、思考、谈论和着述它的不朽。由于你们是从神而来的爱与智慧的形状，所以永远不死。因此，灵魂是人的形状和模样，不能取走什么，也不能塞进什么，是贯穿人体的至为内在的形状。由于外在的形状都从内在获得本质和形状，因此你们就是灵魂，正如你在别人和自己眼中所呈现的那样。简言之，灵魂是人的真我，是至为内在的人。因此，其形状是完整的人的形状。但它不是生命的本体，而是直接从神接受生命的载体，因而是神的居所。”
许多人为院长的讲演鼓掌喝彩，但也有人说：“我们还得仔细想想。”回去的路上，我突然看到殿的上空有一团明亮的云穿透殿顶（先前是不同颜色的云朵彼此碰撞，划出道道光线），将大殿照得金碧辉煌。听说他们看到墙上有字显现，其中有一句写道：“耶和华神用地上的尘土造人，将生气吹在他鼻孔里，他就成了有灵的活人。”（创世记2:7）
697. 记事六:
一次, 我看到不远处显现一个气象, 只见一团云分成许多小团, 有的蓝色, 有的黑色。 它们互相碰撞, 划出道道光线, 时而像利刃, 时而像钝剑, 时而刺射, 时而收回, 仿佛一场激战。 不同颜色的云朵就这样碰撞着, 不过这并非真的战斗。 由于相离不远, 我举目仔细观看, 见许多男子正进入一座殿, 有少年, 有青年, 有老年。 殿基是大理石和花斑岩的, 我看到的气象就发生在殿的上空。 我向一个正要进殿的人询问来由, 他说这是一座学院, 年轻人来这里获得各种智慧。
听到这话, 我随他们一同进殿。 当时我在灵里, 换言之, 我与灵界的精灵和天人处于一样的状态。 我看到大厅前面有一个讲台, 中间有许多长凳, 四围有许多座椅, 入口对面有一排座位。 讲台是为轮流作答的年轻人, 长凳是为听众, 座椅是为已经作答的人, 前排座位是为作评判的长者。 座位中间有一个讲坛, 称为院长的智者坐在那里。 问题由他提出, 年轻人就到讲台作答。 各就各位以后, 院长站起来说: “现在请回答如下问题, 什么是灵魂, 它的性质又是什么? ”
听到这个问题, 在座的人面面相觑, 窃窃私语。 有几个坐在长凳上的人惊呼: “从上古时代直到如今, 有谁靠自己冥思苦想, 弄懂了什么是灵魂呢? 更别说灵魂的性质了! 毫无疑问, 这问题是远远超出人的思维能力! ”但坐在前排的人却回答说: “这问题并不超出人的理解能力, 是可以思考明白的。 你们回答就行了。 ”当天被选中的年轻人就依次站起来, 到讲台回答问题。 共有五人, 他们经长者鉴定, 被认为是相当聪明的, 正坐在靠近讲台的沙发上。 他们照就座的顺序, 轮流走上讲台。 每个人上台时都要穿一件白色丝绸外衣, 再披一件织着花纹的细羊毛长袍, 头戴一顶礼帽, 上面扎一束由许多小蓝宝石围绕的玫瑰花饰。
第一位穿戴完毕, 走上讲台说: “自从创世以来, 灵魂是什么, 其性质又是什么, 还没有启示给任何人, 尚隐藏在独一神的宝库中。 但人们至少发现, 灵魂就像一位女王, 居住在人体内。 但女王的宫殿何在, 学者们还只是猜测。 有的认为在大小脑之间的结节上, 就是称为松果腺的地方。 他们猜测灵魂的宝座在此, 因为整个人是受大脑与小脑的支配, 而大脑与小脑又由松果腺来协调。 所以, 能随意支配大脑与小脑的, 必能从头到脚支配整个人。 世上有很多人认为这种观点是正确的, 至少是大有可能的, 但后来又被认为是纯属想象。 ”
说完以后, 他脱下长袍, 外衣, 摘下礼帽。 第二位就穿上, 登上讲台。 他认为遍及整个天堂和人间, 没有人知道灵魂是什么, 其性质又是什么。 他说: “我们都知道灵魂的存在, 它就在人里面, 但到底在哪, 还只是猜测。 不过有一点倒可以确定, 就是它位于头部, 因为理性在此思考, 意愿在此作决定。 再者, 人的五种感官都在头的面部, 唯独住在头部的灵魂给它们带来生命力。 但其具体位置在哪, 我不敢妄下定论。 有的认为在三个脑室, 有的认为在纹状体, 有的认为在两脑的髓质, 有的认为在大脑皮层, 有的认为在硬脑膜。 我觉得这些说法都有一定的道理和根据。 赞成位于三个脑室的人, 其理由是, 它是精神和大脑各种淋巴的容器。 赞成位于纹状体的人, 其理由是, 它构成神经赖以传递信息, 两脑与脊柱得以连接的骨髓, 从脊柱发出的神经纤维再将整个人体有机结合起来。 赞成位于两脑髓质的人, 其理由是, 它是所有神经纤维的集结, 构成整个人的雏形。 赞成位于大脑皮质的人, 其理由是, 它是所有神经纤维的起点, 因而也是所有感官和运动的起点, 可以说, 人的始与末都在这里。 赞成位于硬脑膜的人, 其理由是, 它是两脑共有的保护性覆盖物, 并延伸到心脏和其它脏腑。 在我看来, 这些观点难分高下。 所以请你们自己选择和决定最佳的答案。 ”
说完以后, 他走下讲台, 将长袍, 外衣和礼帽交给第三位。 第三位就上台, 说: “像我这般年纪的人, 怎能参透如此高深的问题呢? 请问坐在四围的学者, 坐在前排的智者, 更请问最上层天的天人, 谁能凭自己的理性对灵魂有任何了解呢? 至于灵魂在哪, 我倒有个不错的猜想。 我认为它位于心脏, 因此也渗透到血液中。 我的理由是, 心脏通过血液支配身体和大脑。 从心脏发出一条大动脉, 贯通全身, 又发出一条颈动脉, 贯通大脑。 人们因此普遍承认, 灵魂通过心脏流出的血液维持, 滋养包括身体和大脑的整个生命机体, 赋予人生命活力。 此外, 圣经多次提到‘心与灵’, 这也是一个原因。 例如, 人当尽心尽意爱神, 神要给人造一个新心和一个新灵 (申命记6:5; 10:12; 11:13; 26:16; 耶利米书32:41;马太22:37;马可福音12:30, 33;路加福音10:27等等), 甚至明说活物的生命是在血中 (利未记17:11, 14)。 ”听到这些话, 台下一些神职人员高呼: “你太有才了! ”
然后, 第四位穿戴好服装和礼帽, 走上讲台, 说: “我也觉得没有人具备此等智慧, 竟能参透灵魂及其性质。 因此我想, 任何试图参透灵魂的人, 必定费尽心思, 徒劳无功。 但我从小就坚信古人的观点, 认为灵魂内住于整个人体, 贯通于身体各个部位, 同时存在于大脑和躯体。 现代学者将灵魂限定于某个部位, 而不是整个人体, 这是徒劳无益的发明。 再者, 灵魂是一种灵质, 不能赋予空间和位置的属性, 只能说是内住和充满。 还有, 当人提到灵魂的时候, 谁不是理解为生命呢? 而生命不是存在于整个人体和各个部位吗? ”许多听众赞同这种观点。
随后第五位依样穿戴, 走上讲台, 说: “我不大在乎灵魂到底在哪, 是在某个部位还是在整个人体。 然而对于灵魂是什么, 有怎样的性质, 我愿意说说自己的观点。 人们都将灵魂想象为某种纯于自然的东西, 可以比作气或风, 内含理性的活力。 这是人高于动物的地方。 人死的时候, 我们就说他呼出了他的灵魂, 吐出了最后一口气。 我的观点就是基于这个事实。 因此, 死后继续活着的灵魂被人认为是气一般的存在, 内含思想的活力。 除此之外, 灵魂还能是什么? 不过我先前听前排的长者说, 该问题并未超出人的理性, 是可以明白的, 我就索性请你们自己来解开这千古之谜。 ”
前排的诸位长者就望向提出问题的院长。 院长看到他们点头, 示意他下去给以解答, 就立时从讲坛下来, 穿过会众, 登上讲台, 伸手示意, 说: “请听我说。 谁不认为灵魂是一个人至深至微的本质呢? 然而, 本质能脱离形体而存在吗? 没有形体的本质不等于虚构幻想吗? 故此, 灵魂必有形状, 至于是怎样的形状, 下面我就加以解释。 它是爱的一切元素与智慧的一切元素的形状。 爱的一切元素称为情感, 智慧的一切元素称为觉知。 情感和觉知共同构成一个整体, 这个整体包含无以数计的元素, 它们井然有序地凝聚为一个连贯的整体。 称为整体, 因为它无可取走, 也无可加添。 人的灵魂不就是这样一种形状吗? 爱的一切元素和智慧的一切元素不就是此形状的要素吗? 这些要素存在于人的灵魂里, 并通过灵魂存在于人的大脑和身体里。 ”
“你们被称为精灵或天人; 尚在尘世的时候, 你们曾以为精灵和天人是风或气一样的存在, 就是人的思想或意向。 但现在你们已清楚地看到, 你们是实实在在的人, 曾在尘体内生活和思想的人。 你们也知道使人活着和思考的不是尘体, 而是尘体内的灵质。 你们将其称为灵魂, 只是不知它呈什么形状。 但如今你们已看见灵魂, 你们都是灵魂, 曾多多听闻, 思考, 谈论和著述它的不朽。 由于你们是从神而来的爱与智慧的形状, 所以永远不死。 因此, 灵魂是人的形状和模样, 不能取走什么, 也不能塞进什么, 是贯穿人体的至为内在的形状。 由于外在的形状都从内在获得本质和形状, 因此你们就是灵魂, 正如你在别人和自己眼中所呈现的那样。 简言之, 灵魂是人的真我, 是至为内在的人。 因此, 其形状是完整的人的形状。 但它不是生命的本体, 而是直接从神接受生命的载体, 因而是神的居所。 ”
许多人为院长的讲演鼓掌喝彩, 但也有人说: “我们还得仔细想想。 ”回去的路上, 我突然看到殿的上空有一团明亮的云穿透殿顶 (先前是不同颜色的云朵彼此碰撞, 划出道道光线), 将大殿照得金碧辉煌。 听说他们看到墙上有字显现, 其中有一句写道: “耶和华神用地上的尘土造人, 将生气吹在他鼻孔里, 他就成了有灵的活人。 ” (创世纪2:7)
697. The sixth memorable occurrence. On one occasion I saw a strange aerial phenomenon not far from me. I saw a cloud that split into several little clouds, some of which were dark blue and some of which were black. I saw them apparently colliding with each other. Rays or bands of light shone through the clouds. At times these rays looked sharpened to a point. At other times they looked blunted like broken swords. At times the rays came at each other, and at other times they retreated, just as if they were boxing. The little clouds of different colors, then, seemed as if they were doing battle with each other, but in fact they were just playing.
Because this strange sight was not far away, I was able to look at the area beneath it. There I discerned teenagers, young adults, and older adults entering a building of white stone above and red stone below. The phenomenon was occurring in the air directly above this building.
I addressed one of the people going into the building and asked, "What is this place?"
"It is a hall," the person replied, "where young adults are initiated into various issues related to wisdom. "
[2] I then went in along with them. I was "in the spirit," that is, in the same state as the people of the spiritual world, who are known as spirits and angels.
In the hall I saw a lectern [on a stage] at the front of the room, benches in the middle of the room, seats all around at the sides, and a balcony above the entrance [at the back]. The lectern was for the young adults who would respond to the question for debate that would be posed for that occasion. The benches were for the audience. The seats at the side were for people who had given wise responses at similar events in the past. The balcony was for the elders who were the arbiters and judges of the event. In the middle of the balcony there was a platform where a wise man was sitting, whom they referred to as the senior professor. He was the one who would propose the question to which the young adults would respond from the lectern.
After all were gathered, the man on the platform stood up and said, "Respond now, if you would, to the following question and resolve it if you can: What is the soul and how do we experience it?"
[3] All were stunned to hear the question, and a murmur went through the crowd. Some members of the audience on the benches said, "From the Golden Age to our own, who among humans has ever been able to see and discern through rational thought what the soul is, let alone how we experience it? Isn't this beyond the reach of any intellect?"
The elders in the balcony responded, "This is not beyond the reach of the intellect but lies within its scope and purview. Just give your responses!"
Some young men stood up. They were the ones who had been selected that day to come up to the lectern and give their responses to whatever the question would be. There were five of them. An examination by the elders had identified them as particularly sharp-minded and capable. They sat down on padded chairs on either side of the lectern. Later on they got up in the same order in which they had sat down. When each speaker stood up to speak, he would first put on a silk vest that was opalescent in color, and over that a fine wool gown with flowers interwoven, and finally a hat, the top of which was covered in a floral wreath with a ringlet of tiny sapphires.
[4] I saw the first young man, clothed as just noted, going up to the lectern. He said, "What the soul is, and how we experience it, has not been revealed to anyone since the day of creation. It is a secret stored in the treasure-house of God alone. What has been disclosed is that the soul dwells within us like a queen. Where exactly she holds court is a topic on which learned authorities have made various conjectures. Some have thought that she sits in the little protuberance between the cerebrum and the cerebellum known as the pineal gland; they imagined this to be the seat of the soul because the entire person is governed through those two brains, and both brains are controlled by that little growth as it wishes; therefore it in effect controls the entire person from head to toe.
"This appeared either true," he added, "or at least plausible to many people in the world at the time, but in later times it was rejected as imaginary. "
[5] After he had spoken, he took off the gown, the vest, and the hat. The second selected speaker put them on and went up to the lectern. His pronouncement on the soul was as follows.
"Throughout all of heaven and the whole world, no one knows what the soul is or how we experience it. All that is known is that it exists, and exists within us; but where it resides is a matter of conjecture. This much is certain, however: it dwells in the head, since that is where the intellect does its thinking and where the will does its intending. The front surface of the head contains organs for all five senses. The thing that gives life to the will, the intellect, and the senses is the soul, which resides within the head. Where exactly her court is I would not dare to say, but I see the point of those who assign the seat of the soul to the three ventricles of the brain; at other times, I side with those who locate it in the striated body in the brain; at other times, I side with those who locate it in the medullary substances of either brain; at other times, I side with those who locate it in the cortical substance; and at still other times I side with those who assign it to the dura mater. There is no lack of white pebbles to vote for each of these locations.
"One could vote for the three ventricles of the brain because they are the vessels that hold the animal spirits and all the cerebral fluids. One could vote for the striated body because this forms the medulla out of which the nerves come forth and through which each brain is extended to form the spinal cord; the fibers that are woven together to form the entire body come out of the medulla and the spinal cord. One could vote for the medullary substance of each brain because this substance is a gathering place for, and a mass of, all the fibers that constitute the points of origin of the entire person. One could vote for the cortical substance because it contains the first and last ends and therefore the origins of all the fibers, both the sensory fibers and the motor fibers. One could vote for the dura mater because it is a common covering that surrounds both brains and through extensions covers the heart and the internal organs of the body. As for me, I'm not choosing any one of these over the other. I leave it to you to choose and decide, if you would, which theory you prefer. "
[6] After he had finished speaking he stepped down from the lectern and passed the vest, gown, and hat to the third speaker.
The third speaker stepped up behind the lectern and said the following.
"Who am I as a young man to tackle so sublime a proposition? I challenge the learned persons sitting here at the sides of the room, I challenge you, the wise who sit in the balcony, indeed I challenge the angels of the highest heaven to answer me this: Can any human beings ever from their own rational light form for themselves any idea of the soul?
"As for where the soul's seat is within us, I, like anyone else, can offer a conjecture. My opinion is that the soul is in the heart and the blood. This is my conjecture because the heart rules both the head and the body through the agency of the blood. The heart extends its largest blood vessel, known as the aorta, to transmit blood to the entire body, and the vessels called the carotid arteries to transmit blood to the entire head. There is universal consensus on the point that the soul acts from the heart through the blood to sustain, nourish, and give life to the entire organic system of both the head and the body. You will find further support for your confidence in what I'm saying in the fact that Sacred Scripture mentions the soul and the heart many times. For example, you are to love God with all your soul and with all your heart; and God creates in us a new soul and a new heart. See Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12; 11:13; 26:16; Jeremiah 32:41; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33; Luke 10:27; and elsewhere. We are openly told in Leviticus 17:11, 14 that the blood is the soul of the flesh. "
When he had finished, several shouted "Learned! Learned!" They were ministers.
[7] Then the fourth person put on the garments and stepped up to the lectern. "I too suspect that there is no one with mental faculties that are so fine-tuned and sharp as to be able to discern what the soul is and how we experience it. Therefore I am of the opinion that those who try to investigate the soul will find their mental edge worn down by years of fruitless research.
"Since I was young I have always shared the belief of the ancients that our soul is in everything throughout us; it is in every part. It is in the head, and everything it contains, and in the body, and everything it contains. It was a foolish invention on the part of recent writers to designate a seat for the soul in one particular area, rather than everywhere. For one thing, the soul is a spiritual substance; it fills us and dwells in us, but it cannot be said to have either extension or place. For another thing, surely when we say 'soul' we mean 'life'; and life is in the whole and in every part of us. "
Many in the auditorium agreed with what he said.
[8] Then the fifth speaker stood up. Wearing the same apparel as the others, he expressed from the lectern the following opinion.
"I shall not spend time discussing where the soul is, and whether it is in this or that part or everywhere within the whole. Instead, drawing from my own storehouse and treasure I will reveal my thinking on the topic of what the soul is and how we experience it. Everyone thinks of the soul as something pure that can be compared to ether, air, or wind, but possesses some of the rational life that distinguishes us from animals. I base this opinion on the fact that when we expire, we are said to breathe out or exhale our soul or spirit. As a result, the soul that lives on after death is believed to be a kind of breath with some type of life that is capable of thinking, and this life is called the soul. What else could the soul be? Nevertheless, I did hear those in the balcony who said that the question of what the soul is and how we experience it is not beyond the reach of the intellect, but lies within its scope and purview. I ask and pray therefore that you yourselves unveil this eternal mystery!"
[9] The elders in the balcony looked toward the senior professor who had originally proposed the question. He gathered from their nodding that they wanted him to go down and teach.
He immediately came down from his platform, passed through the auditorium, and stepped up to the lectern. Stretching out his hand, he said, "Listen, if you would, please. Surely everyone believes the soul is the inmost and subtlest essence within us; but what is an essence without a form? It is a figment of the imagination. Therefore the soul is a form. Let me say what kind of form it is: It is the form of all the components of love and all the components of wisdom. All the components of love are called desires; all the components of wisdom are called perceptions. These perceptions come from these desires; therefore they come together as a single form. Within that form there are countless individual things, but the design, arrangement, and close interaction of them allow them to be referred to as one thing. They can be called one thing because nothing can be taken away and nothing can be added without turning the whole into something different than it is.
"What else is the human soul but a form like this? All the components of love and all the components of wisdom are the essential elements of this form. In human beings, these components are present in the soul, and the soul makes them present in the head and the body.
[10] "You are called spirits and angels. In the world, you believed that spirits and angels were like pieces of wind or ether, and were therefore just higher or lower minds. Now, of course, you see clearly that you are truly, really, and actually human beings, who used to live and think inside a physical body in the material world. You knew then that the physical body has no life or thought; there was a spiritual substance that lived and thought within the body. You called this the soul. You did not know what form it took, however; but now you have seen your soul, and you are seeing it right now. You yourselves are all souls! You yourselves are the souls about whose immortality you have heard and thought and said and written such a great deal. Because you are forms of love and wisdom from God, to eternity you can never die. Therefore the soul is the human form; nothing can be taken away from it and nothing can be added to it. The soul is the inmost form of all the forms throughout the entire body. And because the forms that lie outside draw both their essence and their form from what lies within, therefore you are souls just the way you appear to yourselves and to us right now.
"Briefly put, the soul is the real person, because it is the deepest self. Therefore its form is fully and perfectly human. It is not, however, life; it is a nearby vessel that receives life from God, and is therefore a dwelling place for God. "
[11] Many applauded this statement of his; but some said, "We'll have to think about that. "
I then went home. To my surprise I saw that over the hall, where that strange aerial phenomenon had appeared earlier, there now appeared a white cloud that had no rays or bands of light fighting with each other. That cloud then came down through the roof of the hall itself and lit up the walls. I heard that the people there saw passages of Scripture on the walls, among which was this: "Jehovah God breathed the breath of lives into the human being's nostrils, and the human being turned into a living soul" (Genesis 2:7).
697. The sixth experience. 1
I once saw not far from me an atmospheric phenomenon. I saw a cloud divided into smaller clouds, some of which were blue and others dark; and I saw these as it were colliding with one another. They were striped with glittering rays which crossed them; sometimes the stripes had sharp tips like sword-points, at other times they appeared square-ended like broken off swords. Sometimes the stripes ran out so as to meet, at other times they withdrew into themselves, rather like boxers. So it looked as if these little clouds of varied colours were fighting one another, but they were playing. Since this atmospheric display took place not far from me, I lifted up my eyes and looking hard I saw boys, young men and old men entering a building constructed of marble with also porphyry in its foundations. The phenomenon was over this building. Then I asked one of those who were going in what was happening there. 'It is a high school,' he replied, 'where young men are given an introduction to various forms of wisdom.'
[2] On hearing this I went in with them. I was in the spirit, that is, in much the same state as people in the spiritual world, those who are called spirits and angels. Inside the school there was in front a chair, in the middle were benches, around the sides seats, and a gallery over the entrance. The chair was for the young men who were to take turns to reply to the question set. The benches were for the audience, the seats at the sides for those who had previously given wise answers, and the gallery for the older men who were to be umpires and judges. In the middle of the gallery there was a platform, where a wise man, called the headmaster, was seated. He put the questions, and the young men answered these from the chair.
When all were assembled, the man on the platform got up and said: 'Please now reply to this question and answer it if you can: what is the soul and what is its nature?'
[3] On hearing this all were astonished and began to murmur; and some of the crowd on the benches cried out: 'What man is there from the age of Saturn 2 down to our times who has been able by any effort of rational thought to see and grasp what the soul is, much less what its nature is. Surely this is beyond the capacity of anyone's understanding?'
But people in the gallery replied to this: 'This is not beyond the understanding, but within its capacity and purview. just give a reply.'
So the young men got up who had been chosen that day to mount the chair and reply to the questions. There were five of them, who had been examined by the elders and found to be outstandingly clever. They were then sitting on padded seats at the sides of the chair. They then took it in turn, according to the order in which they sat, to climb up to the chair. As each went up, he put on a tunic of opalescent silk and over it a gown of soft wool with flowers woven in it, and a hat on his head with a chaplet of roses surrounded by small sapphires on the crown.
[4] Then I saw the first man so clothed go up and say: 'What the Soul is and what its nature is has not been revealed to anyone since the first day of creation. It is a secret which God alone keeps in His treasure-houses. But this much has been discovered, that the soul dwells in man like a queen. However the location of its residence has been the subject of conjecture among learned experts. Some have placed it in the small tubercle between the cerebrum and the cerebellum known as the pineal gland. They have guessed that this was the seat of the soul because the whole person is controlled from those two brains, and that tubercle regulates them. So what governs the two brains at its whim, must also govern the whole person from head to heel. This view,' he said, 'has been regarded by many in the world as true or very probable, but a later age has rejected it as a mere invention.'
[5] On finishing this speech he took off the gown, tunic and hat, and the second of those chosen put them on and so took the chair. His pronouncement about the soul was that in the whole of heaven and in the whole of the world there is no one who knows what the soul is and what its nature is. 'This much,' he said, 'we know, that the soul exists and is in man; but where it is, is a matter of guesswork. This is certain, that it is in the head, since that is where the understanding thinks and the will forms its resolutions; and it is on the face in front of the head that man's five sense organs are to be found. What gives all of these life is the soul which resides inside the head; but I would not dare to express an opinion on where in it its residence is. I have agreed with those who have assigned to it a lodging in the three ventricles of the brain; at other times with those who placed it in the corpora striata there, at other times with those who placed it in the medullary substance of either brain, at other times with those who placed it in the cortical substance, at others with those who placed it in the dura mater. For there was no lack of points to be made in favour of each one of these seats.
The point in favour of the three ventricles in the brain was that they are the receptacles of the animal spirits and all the brain's lymphs. The points in favour of the corpora striata were that these compose the marrow through which the nerves emerge, and by means of which either part of the brain has continuous extensions to the spine; and from one or other of these the fibres emerge which compose the whole structure of the body. The points in favour of the medullary substance of either brain were that it is a gathering and massing together of all the fibres which form the starting point for the development of the whole person. The point in favour of the cortical substance was that here are the first and last ends, and so the beginnings of all fibres, and so of sensation and movement. The point in favour of the dura mater was that it is the shared covering of either brain, from where it stretches in a kind of continuity over the heart and the viscera of the body. For my part, I do not rate one of these theories as superior to another. Will you please, decide and choose which is the best theory.'
[6] After saying this he came down from the chair and passed on the tunic, gown and hat to the third, who went up to the chair and spoke as follows. 'How can I at my age deal with such a lofty subject? I appeal to the learned people seated at the sides here, I appeal to you wise people in the gallery, in fact I appeal to the angels of the highest heaven: can anyone by the light of his reason form for himself any idea of the soul? As regards its seat in man, I can offer as good a guess as anyone else. My guess is that it is in the heart and consequently in the blood. My reason for this is that the heart by means of the blood from it controls both the body and the head. There is a large blood-vessel called the aorta emerging from it and reaching the whole of the body; and there are blood-vessels called carotid arteries emerging from it and reaching the whole of the head. As a result it is universally agreed that the soul by means of blood from the heart sustains, nourishes and gives life to the whole organic system of both the body and the head. An additional reason for believing this assertion is the fact that Holy Scripture says so many times 'soul and heart'. For instance, you are to love God 'with all your soul and with all your heart'; and God creates in man 'a new soul and a new heart' (Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12; 11:13; 26:16; Jeremiah 32:41; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33; Luke 10:27, and elsewhere). It also says explicitly that the blood is the soul of the flesh (Leviticus 17:11, 14).' On hearing this some people raised their voices to cry 'Very learned!'; they were members of the clergy.
[7] After this the fourth put on the garments worn by the previous speaker, and on taking the chair said: 'I too suspect that there is no one of such a sharp and subtle mind as to be able to discern what the soul is and what its nature is. I think therefore that anyone who wishes to scrutinise it has his subtlety exhausted by useless exertions. But from childhood up I have persisted in believing the opinion of the ancients, that man's soul is in the whole of him and in every part of him, and so is as much in his head and each of its parts as in the body and each of its parts. It is a useless invention of modern scholars to locate its seat in some part rather than everywhere. Also the soul is a spiritual substance, to which neither extension nor position can be attributed, but only residing and filling. Again, is there anyone who does not understand life when he mentions the soul, and is not life in the whole and in any part you like to name?' There were many in the audience who supported this statement.
[8] He was followed by the fifth, who, adorned with the same emblems, pronounced from the chair as follows: 'I don't much care to say where the soul is, whether it is in some part or in the whole person. But I will draw on my own resources to disclose my opinion on this question, what the soul is and what its nature is. No one thinks of the soul as anything but something pure, which can be likened to ether or air or wind, the vital principle in which derives from the faculty of reason, which man has to a higher degree than animals. I have based this opinion on the fact that, when a person expires, he is said to breathe out or give up his soul or spirit. As a result too a soul which goes on living after death is believed to be a breath of this kind, containing the life of thought which is called the soul. What else could the soul be? But because I have heard people from the gallery asserting that the question what the soul is and what its nature is, is not beyond the understanding, but within its scope and purview, I beg and beseech you to disclose yourselves this everlasting secret.'
[9] The elders in the gallery here looked at the headmaster, who had set the question. He understood from their nods that they wanted him to go down and tell them the answer. So he at once got down from the platform, and passing through the auditorium took the chair, and holding up his hand said: 'Please listen to me. Is there anyone who does not believe the soul to be the most intimate and subtle essence of a person? But what is essence without form but a figment of the imagination? The soul then is a form, but what sort of form I will tell you. It is the form of all the parts of love and all the parts of wisdom. All the parts of love are called affections, and all the parts of wisdom are called perceptions. The perceptions as a result of and so together with the affections make up a single form containing countless parts but arranged in such order and so cohering that they can be called a unity; and they can be called a unity, because nothing can be taken away from it or added to it, if it is to be a unity. What is the human soul but such a form? All the parts of love and all the parts of wisdom are the essentials of such a form, and in the case of a person these essentials are in his soul, and from his soul in his head and body.
[10] 'You are called spirits and angels; and you believed in the world that spirits and angels were like puffs of wind or particles of ether, and so minds of higher or lower degree 3 . Now you see clearly that you are truly, really and actually people, who in the world lived and thought in a material body; and you knew that it is not the material body that lives and thinks, but the spiritual substance in that body. This you called the soul, whose form you did not know; yet now you have seen it and go on seeing it. You are all souls, about whose immortality you have heard, thought, talked and written so much; and since you are forms of love and wisdom coming from God, you cannot ever die. The soul then is a human form, from which nothing can be taken away, and to which nothing can be added, and it is the inmost form of all the forms throughout the body. Since the forms which are outside receive from the inmost both essence and form, you are therefore souls, just as you appear to be to your sight and to ours. In short, the soul is the real person because it is the inmost person; its form therefore is the human form in full perfection. But it is not life, but is the nearest receiver of life from God, and so God's dwelling.'
[11] This speech was greeted by many with applause, but there were some who said, 'We must think about this.' I then went home, and suddenly there appeared above that high school, in place of the previous atmospheric display, a shining cloud without any stripes or rays fighting one another. This cloud penetrated the roof and coming inside lit up the walls. I was told that they saw things written on them, among which was this:
Jehovah God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul, Genesis 2:7.
Footnotes:
1. This section is repeated from Conjugial Love 315.
697. Sixth Memorable Relation:
I once saw not far from me a meteoric display. I saw a cloud divided into little clouds, some of which were blue, and some dark; and I saw them dashing against each other as it were, with rays of light glittering in streaks across them; which at one time appeared sharp like pointed swords, and again blunt like broken swords, now the streaks would shoot out at each other, and again they withdrew into themselves, exactly like combatants. In this way those differently colored clouds seemed to be fighting with each other, but it was only play. As this display did not seem to be far from me, I raised my eyes and looked at it carefully, and beheld boys, young men, and old men entering into a house built of marble on a foundation of porphyry. The phenomenon was over this house. I then spoke to one of those who were entering, and asked him what was there.
He replied, "It is a gymnasium, where youths are initiated into various matters pertaining to wisdom."
[2] Hearing this, I entered with them. I was in the spirit, that is, in a state like that of the inhabitants of the spiritual world, who are called angels and spirits. And behold, in the gymnasium opposite the entrance was a desk, in the center were benches, round about the sides were seats, and over the entrance was an orchestra. The desk was for the youths who were to give answers to the problem to be proposed on that occasion; the benches were for the auditors, the seats at the sides for those who had answered wisely on former occasions, and the orchestra for older men, who were to be arbiters and judges. In the center of the orchestra was a pulpit, where a wise man, whom they called the head teacher was sitting, who proposed the problems to which the youths gave answer from the desk.
When they had assembled, the man arose in the pulpit and said, "Now please to answer this problem, and solve it if you can, What is the soul, and what is its nature?"
[3] All were amazed when they heard this, and murmured at it; and some of those seated on the benches exclaimed, "What man, even from the Saturnian age to our own, has been able by any rational thought to see and fully comprehend what the soul is, still less what the nature of it is? Is not this question above the sphere of the understanding of all men?"
But to this those in the orchestra replied, "The question is not above the understanding, but in and before it; only answer it."
And the youths who had been chosen for that day arose and went up to the desk and answered the problem. There were five of these who had been examined by the elders and found endowed with much sagacity, and who were then sitting on sofas near the desk, and who afterward went up to the desk in the order in which they sat. Each one as he went up put on a silk tunic of an opalic color, and over it a gown of fine wool inwoven with flowers, and also a cap, on the top of which was a rosette encircled by small sapphires.
[4] I saw the first one go up so clothed, and he said, "What the soul is and what its nature is, has not been revealed to any man since the day of creation; it is hidden in the treasure house of God alone. But this much has been disclosed, that the soul has her seat in man like a queen; but where her court is, learned masters have but guessed; some, that it is in the small tubercle between the cerebrum and the cerebellum, which is called the pineal gland; in this they have fixed the seat of the soul because the whole man is governed from those two brains, and that tubercle regulates them; therefore, this, which regulates the brain at will, also regulates the entire man from head to foot. And this," he continued, "seemed therefore to be the truth or the probability to many in the world; but after their time it was rejected as a mere invention."
[5] When he had so spoken he put off the gown, tunic, and cap, and the second of those chosen put them on and entered the desk. His statement respecting the soul was that throughout all heaven and all the world it is not known what the soul is, or what its nature is. "This much," he said, "is known, that there is a soul and that it is in man, but where it is, is a matter of conjecture. This is certain, that it is in the head, for there the understanding thinks, and there the will intends, and in the fore-part of the head, that is, in the face, are man's five sensories; and the only source of life to all these is the soul which has its seat within the head. But where its court there is, I dare not say. Sometimes I agree with those who have assigned it a seat in the three ventricles of the brain, sometimes with those who assign it a seat in the corpora striata, sometimes with those who locate it in the medullary substance of both brains, or again with those who say it resides in the cortical substance, or with those who say it is in the dura mater; for evidences have not been lacking in favor of each of these locations; in favor of the three ventricles on the ground that these are the receptacles of the animal spirits and the different kinds of lymph belonging to the brain; in favor of the corpora striata on the ground that they form the marrow through which the nerves go forth, and through which both brains are continued into the spinal column, and from this column and this substances the fibers emanate from which the whole body is woven; in favor of the medullary substance of both brains on the ground that this substance is a collection and mass of all the fibers that go to form the rudiments of the entire man; in favor of the cortical substance on the ground that first and last ends reside there, and therefore the beginning of all fibers, and thus of all sense and motions; in favor of the dura mater, on the ground that it is the common covering of both brains, and extends itself therefrom, by a kind of continuity, over the heart and over the viscera of the body. As for myself, I do not decide in favor of one more than another. Do you decide, I beg of you, and choose which you prefer."
[6] When he had said this he came down from the desk and handed the tunic, gown, and cap to the third, who stepped up to the desk and spoke as follows, "What has a youth like me to do with so sublime a problem? I appeal to the learned men sitting here beside me, I appeal to you wise men in the orchestra; I appeal even to the angels of the highest heaven, whether anyone from his own rational light can acquire for himself any idea respecting the soul. But respecting its seat in man, I can like others form conjectures; and my conjecture is that it has its seat in the heart, and therefrom in the blood. And this is my conjecture, because the heart by its blood rules both the body and the head; for it sends forth the great vessel called the aorta throughout the whole body, and the vessels called the carotid arteries into all parts of the head. Therefore it is universally agreed that the soul, from the heart through the blood, sustains, nourishes, and vivifies the whole organic system of both the body and the head. It adds credence to this assertion, that soul and heart are so frequently mentioned in Sacred Scripture, as,
That thou shalt love God with the whole soul and the whole heart, and that God creates in man a new soul and a new heart (Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12; 11:13; 26:16; Jeremiah 32:41; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33; Luke 10:27 and elsewhere).
It is also openly stated that the blood is the soul of the flesh (Leviticus 17:11, 14)." Some when they heard these remarks, cried out, "Learned, Learned!" These were of the canonical order.
[7] Then the fourth, having put on the vestments of the preceding speaker, stepped to the desk and said, "I too suspect that there is no man of so acute and cultivated a genius as to be able to see clearly what the soul is, and what its nature is; and I am therefore of the opinion that the acuteness of anyone who wished to pry into this subject will be exhausted without result. Nevertheless, from my boyhood I have held steadfastly to the belief of the ancients, that man's soul resides in the whole of him and in every part of this whole, and thus both in the head and each part of it, and in the body and each part of it; and that it is a useless invention of the moderns to assign it a seat, in any one place, and not everywhere. Moreover, the soul is a spiritual substance, of which neither extension nor place can be predicated, but only habitation and impletion. Furthermore, does not everyone mean the life, when he says the soul? Does not the life reside in the whole and in every part?"
Many of the audience favored these remarks.
[8] After him the fifth arose and having put on the same vestments, he spoke from the desk as follows, "I will not stop to inquire where the soul is, whether in some part of the body or everywhere in the whole; but from my own store and larder I will open my mind respecting what the soul is and what is its nature. No one thinks of the soul except as a pure something which may be likened to ether or air or wind, in which there is a vital element arising from rationality, which man possesses in higher degree than the beasts. This opinion I have based upon the fact that when a man dies he is said to breath out his soul or give up the ghost, and therefore the soul as it lives after death is believed to be such a breath having in it a cogitative life that is called the soul. What else can the soul be? But as I have heard some of those in the orchestra saying that the problem respecting the soul, what it is, and the nature of it, is not above the understanding, but in it and before it, I ask and pray that they themselves will open to us this eternal mystery."
[9] The elders in the orchestra then looked at the head teacher who had proposed that problem, and he understood by their nods that they wished him to descend and instruct them. And he at once descended from the pulpit, crossed the auditorium, and went into the desk; and there stretching forth his hand he said, "Listen, I pray. Who does not believe that the soul is man's inmost and finest essence? Yet what is an essence without a form but a mere figment of the reason? The soul is therefore a form, but what kind of a form shall be explained. It is the form of all things of love and all things of wisdom; all things of love are called affections, and all things of wisdom are called perceptions. These perceptions from their affections and with them constitute one form in which are innumerable things in such an order, series, and coherence and that they may be called a unit; and they may be called a unit because if it is to be such nothing can be taken from it or added to it. What is the human soul but such a form? Are not all things of love and all things of wisdom the essentials of that form? And in man these are in the soul, and from the soul in the head and body.
[10] You are called spirits and angels; and in the world you believed spirits and angels to be like wind or ether, and thus to be minds or dispositions; but now you see clearly that you are truly, really, and actually men, who in the world thought and lived in a material body; and you knew that it was not the material body that lives and thinks, but the spiritual substance in that body; and this you called the soul, although of its form you had no knowledge, and yet you have now seen it and still see it. All of you are souls, respecting the immortality of which you have heard, thought, spoken, and written so much; and being forms of love and wisdom from God, you can never die. Thus the soul is a human form, from which not an iota can be taken away, and to which not an iota can be added; and it is the inmost form of all the forms of the entire body. And as exterior forms receive both essence and form from the inmost form, so you, as you appear to yourselves and to us, are souls. In a word the soul is the man Himself, because it is the inmost man; and therefore its form is fully and completely the human form. Yet it is not life, but the nearest receptacle of life from God, and thus God's dwelling-place."
[11] Many applauded these remarks: but some said, "We will think about it."
I then went home. And behold, in the place of the former meteoric display there appeared over the gymnasium a bright cloud, without any contending streaks or rays. This cloud penetrated the roof and brightened the walls; and I heard that they saw writings, among other things this:
And Jehovah God formed man, and breathed into man's nostrils the breath of lives; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7).
697. The sixth experience. I once saw not far from me a phenomenon in the air. It was a cloud divided into little clouds, some of which were dark blue, and some black; and I saw them as it were colliding against one another. They were streaked with rays of light darting among them which now seemed sharp like pointed swords, and now blunt like broken swords. These rays now darted out to meet each other, and now drew back, just like boxers. In this way the little variegated clouds appeared as if they were fighting, but it was in sport. As this phenomenon appeared to be at no great distance from me, I raised my eyes, and looking attentively, I saw boys, young men and old men entering a house which was beneath it, built of marble on a foundation of porphyry. It was over this house that the phenomenon appeared. Addressing one of those who were entering I asked what the building was. He answered: "It is a school where young men are taught the various branches of wisdom."
[2] When I heard this, I entered with them, for I was in the spirit; that is, in a state similar to that in which are men of the spiritual world, called spirits and angels. Inside the school I saw in front a great chair, in the centre benches, seats round about the sides and a gallery over the entrance. The chair was for the young men who were to give their answer in turn to the problem about to be proposed, the benches for the hearers, the seats for those who, on former occasions, had given wise answers, and the gallery for the seniors who were to be the judges and arbitrators. In the middle of the gallery was a pulpit where sat a wise man who was called the Headmaster, and who proposed the questions for the young men to answer from the chair. When they were assembled, he rose up from the pulpit and said: "I pray you, give an answer to this problem, and solve it if you can: What is the soul, and what is its nature?"
[3] On hearing this problem all were amazed, and began to murmur; and some of those seated on the benches exclaimed, "No man from the Saturnian age to our own has been able by any rational thought to perceive and comprehend what the soul is, and much less its nature. Is not this above the understanding of every one?" But this reply was returned from the gallery: "It is not above the understanding; it is within it, and within its view, so now let the problem be answered." Then the young men rose, who were chosen that day to occupy the chair and reply to the question. They were five in number, who had been examined by the seniors and found to excel in sagacity, and who were then sitting on couches beside the chair; and they went up in the order in which they sat. As each one went up he put on a silk tunic of an opaline color, and over it a gown of soft wool embroidered with flowers, and also a cap on the top of which was an ornament of roses encircled with small sapphires.
[4] I saw the first youth, thus attired, take the chair, and he said: "What the soul is, and its nature, has been revealed to no one since the day of creation; it is a mystery among the treasures that belong only to God. This, however, has been discovered, that the soul resides in a man as a queen; but where her court is has been a matter of conjecture among the learned. Some have supposed it to be in a small gland between the cerebrum and the cerebellum, called the pineal gland. In this they have fixed the soul's habitation, because the whole man is controlled by the two brains, and these are regulated by the pineal gland. Therefore, whatever regulates the brain at pleasure, regulates the whole man from head to foot." He also added: "Hence this conjecture, to many in the world, appeared as true, or at least probable, but after a time it was rejected as a fiction."
[5] After he had said this he took off the gown, tunic and cap; and the second of the appointed speakers put them on, and took his place at the chair. His opinion concerning the soul was as follows: "No one in the whole of heaven and earth knows what the soul is, and what is its nature. It is known that there is a soul, and that it is in man; but where it resides is a matter of conjecture. This, however, is certain that it is in the head, for there the understanding thinks and the will intends, and in the face, the fore part of the head, are man's organs of sense. To all of these life comes from the soul only, which resides interiorly in the head. But where exactly its seat is I do not venture to say. Sometimes I have agreed with those who assign it a seat in the three ventricles of the brain; sometimes with those who place it in the striated bodies there; or in the medullary substance of each brain, or in the cortical substance, or in the dura mater; for there have not been wanting arguments 1 in favor of each of these conjectures, based on strong grounds of support.
The arguments in favor of the three ventricles of the brain have been that they are the receptacles of the animal spirits and of the lymphs of the brain. Those in favor of the striated bodies are, that they form the marrow through which the nerves go forth, and by which both brains are continued into the spine; and from the spine and marrow there emanate the fibres from which the contexture of the whole body is formed. Those in favor of the medullary substance of each brain are, that each is a collection and an accumulation of all the fibres that constitute the rudiments of the whole man. Those in favor of the cortical substance are, that in that substance are the primary and the ultimate ends, and consequently the beginnings of all the fibres, thus of all the senses and motions. The argument in favor of the dura mater is, that this is the common covering of each brain, from which it is extended by a certain continuity over the heart and viscera of the body. For myself, I do not decide in favor of one more than another. Do you decide, I beg, and choose which you prefer."
[6] With these words he left the chair and handed the tunic, gown and cap to the third; and he, taking his place, spoke as follows: "What have I, a young man, to do with so sublime a question? I appeal to the learned men sitting on each side of me; I appeal to you wise men in the gallery; yea, I appeal to the angels of the highest heaven, whether any one, by the light of his own reason, can form any idea of the soul. Nevertheless, I, like others, can form a conjecture as to where its seat is in man; and my conjecture is, that it resides in the heart, and thence in the blood. Now I conjecture that this is so because the heart by its blood rules both the body and the head; for it sends forth the large artery called the aorta into the whole body, and the vessels called the carotid arteries into the whole head. It is, therefore, universally agreed that the soul from the heart, by means of the blood, supports, nourishes and gives life to the whole organic system of both body and head. As proof of this position it may be urged, that in the Sacred Scripture soul and heart are so frequently mentioned together, as:
That thou shalt love God from the whole soul, and from the whole heart; and that God creates in man a new soul and a new heart; Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12; 11:13; 26:18; Jeremiah 32:41; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33; Luke 10:27; and elsewhere.
It is also openly stated that the blood is the soul of the flesh, Leviticus 17:11, 14.
At these words the voice of some canons was heard calling out, "Learned! learned!"
[7] Then the fourth young man, putting on the garments of the former speaker, ascended to the chair and said: "I also am inclined to suspect that there is no one so subtle and refined in intellect as to perceive what the soul is, and what is its nature. I am, therefore, of opinion that he who attempts to pry into the matter is fruitlessly wasting his skill. Still from my early years I have continued to believe with the ancients, that the soul is in the whole and in every part of man; and thus that it is both in the head and in every part of it, and in the body and in every part of it; and that it is a vain invention of the moderns to appoint a seat for it in any particular spot, and not everywhere. Moreover, the soul is a spiritual substance, of which can be predicated neither extension nor place, but habitation and impletion. Besides, when we mention soul, we mean life; and life is in the whole and in every part of man." This view met with the approval of many in the audience.
[8] After him the fifth young man rose, and magnificently attired in the same dress, spoke from the chair as follows: "I have no objection to talking of where the soul is, whether it is in any one part or in the whole; but from my own store of knowledge I will address myself to this question, What is the soul, and what is its nature? No one thinks of the soul but as something pure, which may be likened to ether, or air, or wind, in which there is a vital principle from the rationality which man enjoys above the beasts. I have based this opinion on the fact that when a man expires, he is said to breathe forth or give up the soul or spirit. Hence the soul which lives after death is supposed to be such a breath, animated by cogitative life, which is called the soul. What else can the soul be? But as I have heard it said from the gallery that the problem of the soul, what it is, and what is its nature, is not above the understanding, but is within it and within its view, I beg and pray that you yourselves will unfold this age-long mystery."
[9] Thereupon the seniors in the gallery looked towards the Principal who had proposed the problem, and he understood by their signs that they wished him to descend and expound the matter. He, therefore, left the pulpit, passed through the audience hall, went up to the chair, and there, stretching forth his hand, he said: "Listen, I pray. Every one believes that the soul is man's inmost and purest essence; but an essence without a form is a mere figment of the reason. The soul is, therefore, a form; and I will now proceed to describe the nature of that form. It is a form of all the things of love, and of all the things of wisdom; and all the things of love are called affections, and all the things of wisdom are called perceptions. Now the perceptions of wisdom, which are derived from the affections, and which therefore, combine with them, constitute one form; and this form contains innumerable things in such order, series, and coherence that they may be termed one. Moreover, they may be so termed because nothing can be taken from it or added to it without changing its nature. The human soul, then, is such a form, all the things of love and wisdom being the essentials of that form; and these with man are in the soul, and from the soul in the head and body.
[10] "You are called spirits and angels; and in the world you believed that spirits and angels were as wind or ether, and thus mere intellectual and rational principles. But now you see clearly that you are in truth really and actually men, who in the world lived and thought in a material body. You now know that it is not the material body that lives and thinks, but a spiritual substance in that body; and this you called the soul, whose form you did not know, but which you have now seen, and continue to see. You all are souls, of whose immortality you have heard, thought, spoken and written so much; and because you are forms of love and wisdom from God, you can never die. The soul, therefore, is a human form, from which nothing can be taken away, and to which nothing can be added, and it is the inmost form of all the forms in the whole body; and since outward forms receive from that which is inmost both essence and form, therefore you are, as you appear both to yourselves and to us, souls. In a word, the soul is the man himself; for it is the inmost man, and therefore its form is fully and perfectly the human form. Nevertheless, it is not life, but the receptacle of life from God nearest to Him, and thus God's dwelling-place.
[11] Many applauded these words, but some said, "We will consider the matter."
I then went home; and above the school, in place of the former phenomenon there now appeared a bright cloud, without the contending streaks or rays. This cloud, penetrating the roof, entered the hall and lit up the walls; and I heard that writings were seen, among which was this one:
"JEHOVAH God... breathed into man's nostrils the soul of lives (A.V., the breath of life); and man became a living soul" Genesis 2:7.
Footnotes:
1. non enim defuerunt calculi sicut albi. Calculus, the little stone used in voting, white, in favor, black, against; here used for the vote or argument itself.
697. SEXTUM MEMORABILE.
Quondam non procul a me vidi Meteoron; vidi Nubem divisam in nubeculas, quarum aliquae caeruleae, et aliquae opacae; et vidi illas inter se quasi collidentes; radii striatim transmicabant illas, qui nunc visi sunt acuti sicut mucrones, nunc obtusi sicut enses fracti; striae illae nunc excurrebant obviam, nunc retrahebant se in se, plane sicut pugiles; ita diversicolores illae nubeculae apparebant quasi inter se dimicarent, sed ludebant. Et quia hoc Meteoron 1 non procul a me visum est, sustuli oculos, ac intendi aciem, et vidi pueros, juvenes et senes intrantes in Domum, quae erat exstructa ex marmore, et substructa et ex porphyrite; super hac Domo erat illud phaenomenon; et tunc unum ex intrantibus alloquutus quaesivi, quid ibi; et respondit, est Gymnasium, ubi juvenes initiantur in varia quae sapientiae sunt:
[2] hoc audito, intravi cum illis; eram in spiritu, hoc est, in simili statu in quo sunt homines Mundi Spiritualis, qui vocantur Spiritus et Angeli; et ecce in Gymnasio illo anterius visa est Cathedra, in medio scamna, ad latera circum circa sedilia, et supra introitum Orchestra; Cathedra erat pro juvenibus qui ad Problema illa vice proponendum responderent, scamna pro auditoribus, sedilia ad latera pro illis qui prius sapienter responderunt, et Orchestra pro Senioribus, qui essent arbitri et judices; in medio Orchestrae erat Suggestum, ubi sedit vir sapiens, quem vocabant Archididascalum, qui proposuit problemata, ad quae juvenes e Cathedra responderent; et postquam congregati sunt, surrexit Vir ex suggesto, et dixit, respondete nunc quaeso ad hoc Problema, et solvite illud si potestis, QUID ANIMA, ET QUALIS ILLA.
[3] His auditis obstupescebant omnes, et murmurabant, et aliqui e Caetu super scamnis, exclamabant, quis hominum usque a Saturnino aevo ad hoc nostrum ulla rationis cogitatione videre et assequi potuit, quid Anima, et adhuc minus qualis illa; estne hoc supra omnium intellectus sphaeram; sed ad haec retulerunt ex Orchestra, hoc non est supra Intellectum, sed in illo et coram illo; respondete modo; et surrexerunt Juvenes illo die electi, qui ascenderent Cathedram, et ad Problema responderent; erant quinque, qui a Senioribus explorati ac inventi sagacitate pollentes, et tunc ad latera cathedrae super toris sedentes; et hi postea in ordine, in quo sedebant, ascenderunt; et quisque cum ascenderet induebat tunicam ex serico opalini coloris, et super illa togam ex molli lana, cui flores erant intexti, et insuper pileum, super cujus vertice erat rosarium incinctum parvis sapphiris. 2
[4] Et vidi Primum ita indutum ascendentem, qui dixit, "Quid anima et qualis illa, a die Creationis non revelatum est ulli; est arcanum in thesauris solius Dei; sed hoc detectum est, quod Anima in homine sicut Regina resideat; verum ubinam ejus aula est, eruditi Vates divinarunt; quidam quod sit in parvo tuberculo inter Cerebrum et Cerebellum, quod vocatur Glandula pinealis; in hac finxerunt sedem Animae, ex causa, quia totus homo regitur ex binis illis Cerebris, et illud tuberculum disponit illa; quare quod disponit cerebra ad nutum, hoc etiam disponit totum hominem a capite ad calcem:" et dixit, "hoc inde sicut verum aut verosimile apparuit multis in Mundo, sed post saeculum hoc ut figmentum est rejectum."
[5] Postquam haec dixerat, exuit togam, tunicam et pileum, quae Secundus ex electis assumsit, ac intravit cathedram; hujus enuntiatum de Anima erat; quod in universo Coelo et in universo Mundo nesciatur quid Anima et qualis illa; hoc scitur, quod sit, et quod in homine sit, sed ubi, divinatur; hoc certum est quod sit in Capite, quoniam Intellectus ibi cogitat, et Voluntas ibi intendit, et antrorsum in Capitis facie sunt quinque hominis Sensoria; his et illis non aliud dat vitam quam Anima quae intus in Capite residet; at ubinam ejus Curia est ibi, non ausim effari, sed consensi cum illis, qui ei assignarunt sedem in tribus Ventriculis Cerebri, nunc cum illis qui in Corporibus striatis ibi, nunc cum illis qui in Substantia medullari utriusque Cerebri, nunc cum illis qui in Substantia corticali, nunc cum illis qui in Dura matre; non enim defuerunt calculi sicut albi ex confirmationibus pro unaquavis sede. Calculi 3 pro tribus Ventriculis in Cerebro, fuerunt, quod illi sint receptacula spirituum animalium et lympharum omnium Cerebri: calculi pro corporibus striatis fuerunt, quod haec faciant Medullam per quam exeunt nervi, et per quam utrumque Cerebrum continuatur in Spinam, et ex hac et ex illa emanant fibrae ex quibus totum Corpus contextum est: calculi pro Substantia medullari utriusque Cerebri fuerunt, quod illa sit collectio et congeries omnium fibrarum, quae sunt initiamenta totius hominis: calculi pro substantia corticali fuerunt, quod ibi sint fines primi et ultimi, et inde principia omnium fibrarum, et sic sensuum et motuum: calculi pro dura Matre fuerunt, quod illa sit tegumentum commune utriusque Cerebri, et inde per quoddam continuum extendat se super cor et super viscera corporis. Quod me attinet, non arbitror plus de uno quam de altero; vos, quaeso, arbitramini et eligite quid potius.
[6] His dictis e Cathedra descendit, et tradidit Tertio tunicam, togam, et pileum, qui scandens Cathedram loquutus est haec; Quid mihi Juveni cum tam sublimi theoremate; provoco ad Eruditos sedentes hic ad latera, provoco ad Sapientes vos in Orchestra, imo provoco ad supremi Coeli Angelos, num quisquam ex sua rationali luce potest aliquam de Anima ideam sibi sumere; at de Sede ejus in homine possum ego sicut alii vaticinari; et vaticinor quod sit in Corde et inde in Sanguine; et hoc meum vaticinium est, quia Cor sanguine suo regit et Corpus et Caput; emittit enim magnum vas Aorta vocatum in Universum Corpus, ac emittit vasa Carotides vocata in universum Caput; inde universalis consensus est, quod Anima ex Corde per sanguinem sustentet, nutriat, vivificet universum systema organicum et Corporis et Capitis: ad fidem hujus assertionis accedit, quod in Scriptura Sacra toties dicatur Anima et Cor, ut quod amaturus sis Deum ex tota Anima et ex toto Corde; et quod Deus creet in homine novam Animam et novum Cor, Deuteronomius 6:5; 4 10:12; 5 11:13; 6 26:16, Jeremias 32:41, Matthaeus 22:35; 7 Marcus 12:30, 33, Luca 10:27, et alibi, ac aperte quod Sanguis sit Anima carnis, Leviticus 17:11, 14. His auditis aliqui extulerunt vocem, dicentes, docte, docte; erant ex Canonicis.
[7] Post haec Quartus hujus vestibus indutus, et ingressus Cathedram, dixit; suspicor etiam ego, quod non aliquis tam subtili et limato ingenio sit, ut dispicere possit, quid Anima, et qualis illa; quare arbitror, quod apud illum, qui vult rimari illam, subtilitas supervacuis teratur; sed usque a pueritia permansi in fide sententiae, in qua fuerunt Antiqui, quod Anima hominis sit in ejus toto, et in hujus omni parte, et sic quod tam in Capite et in singulis ejus, quam in Corpore et in singulis ejus, et quod vanum a Neotericis 8 inventum fuerit, designare ei sedem alicubi, et non ubivis; est quoque Anima substantia spiritualis, de qua non praedicatur extensio nec locus, sed habitatio et impletio: quis etiam non intelligit vitam, dum nominat animam, estne vita in toto et in qualibet parte; his dictis favebant multi in Auditorio.
[8] Post hunc surrexit Quintus, ac iisdem insignibus ornatus, e Cathedra edidit hoc: Non moror dicere, ubi est Anima, Numeri in aliqua parte, vel num ubivis in toto; sed ex meo promo et condo aperiam mentem de hoc, quid Anima et qualis illa; Anima non cogitatur ab aliquo, nisi sicut purum quid, quod assimilari potest aetheri aut aeri aut vento, in quo vitale est ex rationalitate, quae homini est prae bestiis: opinionem hanc fundavi super hoc, quod homo dum exspirat, dicatur efflare seu emittere Animam seu spiritum; inde etiam Anima post mortem vivens creditur esse talis halitus, in quo est vita cogitativa, quae vocatur Anima; quid aliud potest anima esse. Sed quia audivi ex Orchestra dicentes, quod problema de Anima, quid illa et qualis illa est, non sit supra intellectum, sed in illo et coram illo, rogo et precor, ut aeternum hoc Arcanum vos ipsi aperiatis:
[9] et Seniores in Orchestra inspexerunt Archididascalum, qui illud problema proposuerat, qui ex nutibus intellexit, quod vellent ut descenderet et doceret; et actutum ille ex Suggestu descendit, pertransivit Auditorium, et ingressus est Cathedram, et ibi exporrigens manum dixit; auscultate quaeso; quis non credit Animam esse intimam et subtilissimam Essentiam hominis, at quid Essentia absque Forma aliud quam ens rationis, quare Anima est Forma, sed qualis forma dicetur; est forma omnium amoris et omnium sapientiae; omnia amoris vocantur affectiones, et omnia sapientiae vocantur perceptiones; hae ex illis et sic cum illis faciunt unam formam, in qua innumerabilia in tali ordine, serie et cohaerentia sunt, ut vocari possint unum; et vocari possunt unum, quia non potest inde aliquid auferri, nec ad illud aliquid addi, ut sit talis; quid Anima humana nisi talis forma; suntne omnia Amoris et omnia Sapientiae essentialia illius formae, et haec apud hominem sunt in Anima et ex Anima in Capite et corpore:
[10] vos vocamini Spiritus et Angeli, et credidistis in Mundo, quod Spiritus et Angeli sint sicut venti aut aetheres, et sic Mentes et Animi; et nunc clare videtis, quod vere, realiter et actualiter sitis homines, qui in Mundo vixistis et cogitavistis in materiali corpore, et scivistis quod Corpus materiale non vivat et cogitet, sed Substantia spiritualis in illo corpore, et hanc vocavistis Animam, cujus formam nescivistis, et tamen nunc vidistis et videtis illam; vos omnes estis Animae, de quarum imortalitate tam multa audivistis, cogitavistis, dixistis et scripsistis; et quia estis Formae amoris et sapientiae a Deo, non potestis mori in aeternum: Anima itaque est forma humana, de qua ne hilum potest auferri, et ad quam ne hilum potest addi, ac est intima forma omnium formarum universi corporis; et quia formae quae extra sunt ab intima accipiunt et essentiam et formam, ideo estis, sicut apparetis coram vobis et nobis, Animae; verbo Anima est ipse homo, quia est intimus homo, quare ejus forma est plene et perfecte forma humana; verum non est vita, sed est proximum receptaculum vitae a Deo, et sic habitaculum Dei.
[11] His dictis adplaudebant multi, sed aliqui dicebant, expendemus. Ego tunc abivi domum; et ecce super Gymnasio illo, loco prioris Meteori apparuit Nubes candida absque striis seu radiis inter se dimicantibus; quae Nubes penetrans tectum intravit, ac illustravit parietes; et audivi, quod viderint Scripturas, ac inter alias etiam hanc, "Jehovah Deus inspiravit in nares hominis ANIMAM VITARUM, et factus est Homo in ANIMAM VIVENTEM," Genesis 2:7.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio et DAC 315: Moteoron.
2. Prima editio: saphiris.
3. Prima editio et DAC 315[6] Caculi.
4. Prima editio: 5.
5. Prima editio: 10:11.
6. Prima editio: 11:14.
7. Sic Schmidt, sed 22:37 apud Novum Testamentum Graecum et Biblia Anglica. Prima editio: 22:3.