Heaven Revealed/Chapter 11
XI.
ENVIRONMENT IN HEAVEN. AND WHAT DETERMINES IT.
HAVE the angels an outward or phenomenal world as people on earth have? If so, what is its general character or aspect, and what determines it? Since they possess the human organs, eyes to see and hands to handle things, we should expect there would be objects to be seen and handled. We cannot conceive of their existing as human beings without an earth to stand and walk upon; nor can we conceive of their being in a blissful state with no kind of objective world, and compelled to gaze forever on mere emptiness. But what answer does Swedenborg give to the above questions? Briefly this:
That the angels live upon a substantial earth (not material), and are surrounded by innumerable objects that are far more beautiful and perfect than any that exist on earth—but all spiritual. And their senses being far more acute than ours, and the light in which they dwell far more brilliant, they see the objects in their world with greater distinctness than we see those in ours. And the law which determines the aspect of their outward world, is the same as that according to which the Sacred Scripture is written—the same law that always governs in the descent of the Divine love and wisdom to ultimates—the law of correspondence between the internal and external, or between cause and effect. Spirit tends forever to clothe itself in correspondential forms. It cannot become clothed in any other. God cannot speak or reveal Himself to finite beings, except according to correspondence. He cannot create, and so exhibit his love and wisdom to the senses of men, except according to the same law. And the objects which appear in heaven, exist there by virtue of an influx from the Divine into the minds of the angels, and through them into their outward or phenomenal world. The character of their outer is therefore determined by that of their inner world. The former is the visible representation of the latter. The things which greet their senses are the creations, and therefore the correspondential forms, of their own affections and thoughts. Thus their outward world corresponds in all respects to the world within them. Every active principle in their minds is pictorially represented to the outward sense, and under a form perfectly correspondent. The objects round about them, therefore, are so many mirrors, as it were, reflecting with mathematical precision the world of thought, affection and purpose within them. But we will give Swedenborg's report on this subject in his own language. The following extracts contain the substance of it:
"Whenever it has been granted me to be in company with angels, the things of heaven have appeared to me exactly like those in the world,—so perceptibly indeed, that I knew not but that I was in the world, and in the palace of a king there. . . . Since all things which correspond to the interiors [of the angels] also represent them, therefore they are called REPRESENTATIVES. And since they vary according to the state of the interiors with the angels, therefore they are called APPEARANCES; although the objects which appear before their eyes, and which are perceived by their senses, appear and are perceived as much to the life as those on earth appear to man; nay, much more clearly, distinctly and perceptibly. The appearances thence existing in the heavens are called real appearances, because they really exist.
"To illustrate the nature and quality of the objects which appear to the angels according to correspondences, I will here adduce a single instance. To those who are in intelligence there appear gardens and paradises full of trees and flowers of every kind. The trees are planted in the most beautiful order, and so interwoven as to form arbors with entrances of verdant fret-work, and walks around them,—all of such beauty as no language can describe. . . . There are also species of trees and flowers there, such as were never seen and could not exist in the world. On the trees also are fruits according to the good of love in which the inteiligent are principled. Such things are seen by them, because a garden and paradise and also fruit trees and flowers correspond to intelligence and wisdom.
"The paradisiacal scenery of heaven is stupendous. There are paradisiacal gardens presented to view, of an immense extent, consisting of all sorts of trees, of a beauty and pleasantness exceeding every idea of human thought, which yet appear in so living a manner before their external sight, that they not only see them in the gross, but also perceive every single object much more vividly than the bodily sight does when exercised on similar objects here on earth."—A. C, n. 1622./
"Representatives are presented in the other life according to states of the interiors with spirits, for they are correspondences. Around spirits who are in truths from good, appear the most beautiful representatives, namely, houses and palaces glittering with gold and precious stones, also gardens and paradises of ineffable beauty; all these from correspondence. But around those who are in truths not from good, there appear nothing but craggy places, rocks, and bogs, and sometimes shrubberies, but unpleasant and barren; these also are from correspondence. But around those who are in falsities from evil, there appear fens, privies and other offensive objects: the reason of which is, that all representatives in the other life are external things figured according to the states of the interiors; for thus the spiritual world presents itself visible there."—Ibid, n. 10,194.
"The visible objects which are in heaven correspond to the interiors of the angels, or to those things which belong to their faith and love, and thence to their intelligence and wisdom." Some "live in elevated places which appear like mountains, . . . and in a vernal atmosphere. There are presented before them, as it were, fields, harvests and vineyards. Everything in their houses glistens as if made of precious stones; . . others dwell in gardens where appear beds of flowers and grassplats beautifully arranged, and rows of trees round about, together with porticos and walks. The trees and flowers are varied every day. The view of the whole in general presents delights to their minds, and the varieties in particular continually renew them. And because these objects correspond to things divine, and those who behold them are in the knowledge of correspondences, they are perpetually replenished with new knowledges whereby their spiritual rational faculty is perfected."— H. H. n. 489.
Such is the uniform teaching of Swedenborg concerning the objective world in heaven, and its determining cause. And can we conceive of anything more reasonable? It satisfhes the best instincts and deepest longings of our nature—yes, and the intuitions of our highest reason also. For what is more reasonable than that the outer world of those in the realms of bliss, should be in complete correspondence with their inner world?—a true pictorial representation of their noble and beautiful souls? The flowers of love that are ever opening in their hearts, the fruits of charity they are ever busy in bringing forth, the green and living things of intelligence which are constantly springing up within them—why should not these go forth and embody themselves or appear under corresponding forms of beauty and loveliness? Why should not the fragrance, verdure and bloom of the outward angelic world, be in perfect correspondence with the fragrance, beauty and bloom of angelic minds?
Almost every one has an instinctive perception that there exists an intimate relation between the beautiful and the good—a relation so intimate that the former is the divinely ordained representative of the latter. We all feel an instinctive repugnance to connecting innocence and virtue with dismal scenes or unsightly objects, for we recognize their native disagreement, or unsuitableness to each other; while inward evil and outward ugliness seem naturally to belong together. Thus Milton, in portraying the beautiful scenery round about Adam and Eve in the days of their innecence, has but uttered the universal sentiment of mankind; and his utterance, therefore, meets with a ready response from the universal human heart. Every one feels that a place less beautiful than that sweet Garden which the great poet has so finely pictured, would not have agreed with the innocence and purity of the couple he describes. So universal is the perception that the good and the beautiful belong together, and that the Creator designed the one to be the visible image of the other. Considering the purity and innocence of the denizens of heaven, what, then, might we reasonably expect would be the character of their surroundings?
Then the light in which the angels dwell, and which is said to be a thousand-fold brighter than that of our sun, is another consideration in favor of the truth of Swedenborg's disclosures on this subject. For if they are in a state to bear a thousand-fold brighter light than people on earth enjoy, then the objects they behold around them ought to be a thousand times more numerous and beautiful than are seen here on earth. Besides, we know that the most exalted and enlightened minds always see with other eyes than those of the ignorant and depraved. The former, on account of their superior purity and enlightenment, behold a world of beauty which is quite hidden from the latter. All the ways and works of God are surpassingly beautiful; but light and the right kind of eyes are needed to enable the beholder to discern their beauty. By virtue, therefore, of their superior light and better eyesight, the angels ought to see round about them precisely such a beautiful worid as Swedenborg has described.
And the Bible adds its testimony also to that of reason, experience, and the best instincts of our nature. Read the description of the Garden in which man is said to have been placed at the time of his creation, and where "the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." For although that Garden and all its beautiful belongings are not to be literally interpreted—although they are to be taken as the representatives of the internal states of the most ancient people in the days of their innocence and integrity—the account serves our purpose none the less for all that. For the beautiful surroundings of the angels are but the outward representatives of their internal states—their affections and thoughts—and are in perfect correspondence with them.
And because the Scripture is composed according to the same great law that determines the aspect of the objective world in the Hereafter, therefore the Lord's spiritual kingdom—the regenerate human soul, viewed singly or collectively—is described in the Bible by the various precious metals, innocent animals, and beautiful objects in nature; as by gold and silver; by sheep, lambs and doves; by mountains and hills and well-watered gardens; by vineyards and oliveyards, cedar-trees and the trees of lign-aloes; by a good land, "a land of water-brooks, and fountains that spring out of valleys and hills"; "a land of vines and fig-trees and pomegranates." These and other like things are often mentioned in the Word where the Lord's kingdom—the regenerate human heart—is treated of. And we cannot suppose such things were selected without a sufficient reason. They are a part of God's own Word; and when the Divine speaks or acts, it is ever according to the highest reason and perfect divine order. And the reason why such things are mentioned in the Word when the states of the regenerate are treated of, is, that they are the correspondential forms of those heavenly principles which the Lord establishes in the hearts of all whom He creates anew in his own image and likeness. And these principles, in becoming embodied under the various beautiful forms which appear in heaven, are only assuming their own appropriate vestments,—the very forms which the Creator Himself has ordained for them.
Let us now look at the law which, according to Swedenborg, determines the whole character or aspect of the objective world in the Hereafter. If it is not susceptible of a complete demonstration, we hope at least to furnish strong presumptive evidence of its truth.
This law, as already stated, is that of correspondence, which means a relation similar to that existing between the soul and the body. It is in the nature of every spiritual principle to go forth and embody itself under some outward form. And the form must correspond to the living principle that enters into, creates and sustains it. We see this tendency of the human spirit constantly manifested here on earth; for even here the affections of every man are forever seeking embodiment, and they first create for themselves certain correspondential forms in the thought of the understanding. Thus their forms exist mentally, or in the world within man, before they attain a visible and tangible existence in the world without him. They are visible to the mental before they are seen by the bodily eye. This is true of everything that man creates—temples, houses, gardens, machinery, pictures, statuary, furniture, clothing, and the like. These things are the offspring of some desire or love with which they correspond as body with soul; and they all existed as objects of thought in man's spiritual world (his mind), before they existed as objects of sight in the natural world. There is nothing made by the hand of man which was not, in all its parts, visible to the eye of the mind before it was visible to the eye of sense; and nothing which does not correspond to the love that gave it birth, as effect corresponds to cause, or body to soul. Thus all the things in this natural world which are products of human ingenuity, are correspondences of the affections and thoughts of men. They are visible representative forms of certain invisible mental states which they body forth and to which they correspond. And the changes which are continually taking place in that portion of the outward world which is subject to man's control, keep pace with men's internal or mental changes to which they correspond, and without which no outward changes could occur.
Every individual on earth strives to create around himself (and succeeds if he has the means and opportunity) an outward or objective world which is in exact correspondence with his inner or mental world—that is, so far as relates to the natural degree of his mind. He impresses himself, as to this degree, on whatever he makes or causes to be made. His own mind, his coarseness or his culture, his refined taste or the absence of it, is visibly stamped on all around him,—on the house he builds, the furniture he orders, the pictures he buys, the trees he plants, and the flowers he cultivates. If his means and opportunity are ample, all his surroundings will, after a while, be a certain representative image of himself; they will be in exact correspondence with his external or natural mind, and therefore a true expression of the natural affections and thoughts in which they originated. So true is this, and so well understood generally, that almost any careful observer can tell at a glance, by his visible surroundings, the man of culture and refinement from one of low breeding and depraved tastes.
And as with individuals, so with communities or men in larger form. Every community, so far as its means will permit, creates an outer in correspondence with its inner world—that is, with its own prevailing mental character. Let a man travel through South Africa or Patagonia, and then visit the towns and villages of New England or Old England, and although he might not converse with one of the inhabitants, but only look at their environment, he would see the difference in the mental condition of the people of those countries as plainly as if their affections and thoughts were all written in a book.
But it is to be observed that the world which people create round about them here, being external and natural, is in correspondence not with their internal and spiritual, but with their external and natural thoughts and affections. And if there exists this correspondence between the natural mind and the world which this mind creates round about itself in the realm of nature—if we see everywhere a strong tendency in natural affections and thoughts to go forth and embody themselves under corresponding natural forms—then it is reasonable to conclude that this law of correspondence must be the very law that determines the character or aspect of the objective world in heaven. What other conceivable law is there, to which the rational mind so readily yields assent?
Furthermore, every one knows how much the outward aspect of all things on earth depends on the mental state of the beholder. The outer is ever taking on the complexion of the inner world, even here. There are times when a dismal pall seems spread over all creation; when all around us seems like a desert; when the sweetest flowers are undelightful, and the laughter of children has no music to our ears, and the faces of dearest friends no beauty to our eyes;—times when the loveliest scenes in nature—the brightest sunshine and the verdant earth—have for us no cheerful smile, but rather an indignant frown. And are not these the times when the heart is cold and desolate and sad? when darkness and gloom brood over our inner world? But when the sunshine returns to the soul, when the heart glows with affection, and hope is bright and buoyant, and the world within us becomes lighted up with a sweet and serene joy, how changed is the aspect of the world without! Nature no longer mourns or frowns, but greets us everywhere with benignant smiles. The very air seems balmy, as if laden with the perfume of flowers. The faces of friends beam with unwonted lustre. There is music in the rain's dull drizzle, and in the wind's low sigh. The aspect of the whole outward world is changed, and that which seemed so sombre and frowning but a little while ago, is now radiant with beauty and with smiles.
Such is the controling, power which our inner or subjective exerts over our outer or objective world, even here on earth. Such the manifest tendency of the soul to stamp its own moods or complexion on all its surroundings;—to color and shape the outward in complete correspondence with itself. Men of the deepest insight have ever seen and acknowledged this law. It is well expressed by one of our own poets, who sings:
"It is the soul's prerogative—its fate
To shape the outward to its own estate.
If right itself, then all around is well;
If wrong, it makes of all without a hell.
......Turn where thou wilt, thyself in all things see
Reflected back.—
......Who has no inward beauty, none perceives.
Though all around is beautiful.—
......
Soul! fearful is thy power, which thus transforms
All things into thy likeness."
If such be the power of the soul here on earth, to "transform all things into its likeness," what should result when it is released from its material clog and earthly limitations, and brought consciously into a world, the substances of which being altogether spiritual, are plastic to its every breath? What but the very thing declared in the passages cited near the commencement of this chapter? We submit that the only rational conclusion to be drawn from the brief argument we have here presented, is, that there is just such an outward or objective world in heaven as Swedenborg has described, the character or aspect of which is determined by the great and universal law that he has revealed—the law according to which the Sacred Scripture is written, and creation has proceeded from the beginning, and spirit in all worlds forever seeks to embody itself—the law of correspondence.
And let it be added in conclusion (and this is further evidence of its truth) that the doctrine is not purely speculative, as might at first be supposed, but one of great practical value. It offers us a heaven that is not a realm of unsubstantial shadows, but one of substantial realities. It shows us myriads of human beings, once denizens of earth, now advanced to a more perfect state, with faculties improved, and all the senses become far more acute, and an external world of indescribable beauty. And by revealing the underlying and determining cause of its wondrous beauty—the pure and unselfish loves in the hearts of the angels—it acquaints us with this momentous fact: that our objective world in the Hereafter will be a complete representative of our inner selves, in exact correspondence with our own characters or ruling loves; beautiful beyond conception if these are noble and unselfish, but dreary and dismal if they are mean and selfish. It shows us that, since we take our characters with us into the other world and can take nothing else, therefore every one will take with him his own heaven or—his own hell; for both these kingdoms are within men's souls; and the heaven or the hell that will be visible round about us in the Hereafter, will be the correspondential image of that which has been formed within us here.
Thus the doctrine settles forever—and upon a basis as substantial as the soul itself—the question in regard, to our entrance into heaven, showing the utter impossibility of admission from immediate mercy. It teaches with clearness and impressiveness the solemn truth, that each one is making while here on earth, his garden or his wilderness, his paradise or his desert, for the ages to come;—is building for himself a beautiful palace or a gloomy prison-house that is to endure forever. What teaching can be more solemn than this? What more practical, or more potent in benign influence when clearly ưnderstood and cordially accepted?