Logopraxis

The Third Round
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Seeking to make the Lord God Jesus Christ visible in our midst... "Where two or three are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20)

  1. 6 HR AGO

    We need the Word to turn our minds around, to govern the illusions of the appearances of the senses (7 mins)

    The Word is what opens the spiritual mind/ sense of being Apocalypse Explained (Whitehead) 790 {3-4}. Every man has two minds, one natural and the other spiritual; and as it is the mind that wills and thinks, every man has also natural will and thought and spiritual will and thought. The natural mind wills and thinks like a man in the world, and the spiritual mind wills and thinks like an angel in heaven. From this it follows that as faith is in man, it, too, is natural or spiritual; and that natural faith is according to man’s will and thought in the world, and spiritual faith is according to his will and thought in heaven. It is said the will and thought, because all things from which man is a man have relation to these two, for from the will he acts, and from the thought he speaks. And as a man acts and speaks either from self or from God, so he wills and thinks either from self or from God. From this it is clear, in the first place, that there is natural faith and spiritual faith; and that natural faith apart from spiritual faith is to think such things as are in the Word from self, while natural faith from spiritual faith is to think such things as are in the Word from God; although this also seems to the man to be from himself. As every man has two minds, a natural and a spiritual, and the natural mind is opened and formed by such things as are in the world, while the spiritual mind is opened and formed by such things as are in heaven, and as the things that are in heaven are all spiritual, so a man’s spiritual mind must needs be opened and formed by such things as are in the Word, in which all things are spiritual because they are Divine. In the Word there are truths that are to be known and thought, and goods that must be willed and done; therefore it is by these goods and these truths that man’s spiritual mind is opened and formed. From this it follows, that unless the spiritual mind is opened and formed by truths and goods from the Word it remains closed; and when this is closed the natural mind only is opened and formed by such things as are in the world, from which man, indeed, derives a natural lumen, but such as has in it no wisdom from heaven. From this it is clear, in the second place, that faith is not faith so long as the natural mind only is opened, but that if the thought that a thing is so is called faith it is historical faith, which is nothing but knowledge from which the natural man thinks.  The illusions of the senses/natural mind – the mind that thinks from the senses Arcana Coelestia (Potts) 3483​… From this it is evident how gross, nay, how earthly and also inverted is that human intelligence which ascribes everything to nature separate or exempt from an influx prior to itself, or from an efficient cause. Moreover they who so think and speak seem to themselves to be wiser than others; that is, in attributing all things to nature, when yet on the contrary angelic intelligence consists in ascribing nothing to nature, but all and everything to the Divine of the Lord, thus to life, and not to anything dead. The learned know that subsistence is a perpetual coming forth; but still it is contrary to the affection of falsity and thence to a reputation for learning to say that nature continually subsists, as it originally came into existence, from the Divine of the Lord. Inasmuch therefore as each and all things subsist, that is, continually come forth, from the Divine, and as each and all things thence derived must needs be representative of those things whereby they came into existence, it follows that the visible universe is nothing else than a theater representative of the Lord’s kingdom; and that this kingdom is a theater representative of the Lord Himself.  Arcana Coelestia (Elliot) 5084{1-2}. Sensory impressions are said to be cast aside when the things that are first and foremost in explanations place no reliance on them; for they are indeed sensory impressions, and impressions received by the mind directly through the senses are illusions. The senses are the source of all the illusions that reign in a person, and they are the reason why few have any belief in the truths of faith and why the natural man is opposed to the spiritual man, that is, the external man to the internal. Consequently if the natural or external man starts to have dominion over the spiritual or internal man, no belief at all in matters of faith exists any longer, for illusions cast a shadow over them and evil desires smother them. Few know what the illusions of the senses are and few believe that these cast a shadow over rational insights and most of all over spiritual matters of faith – a shadow so dark that it blots them out. This happens especially when at the same time what a person delights in is the result of desires bred by a selfish and worldly love. But let examples be used to shed some light on this matter, first some examples of illusions of the senses which are purely natural ones, that is, illusions about things within the natural creation, then some examples of such illusions in spiritual things. It is an illusion of the senses – a purely natural one, or an illusion about the natural creation – to believe that the sun is borne round this globe once a day, and that the sky too and all the stars are borne round at the same time. People may be told that it is impossible and therefore inconceivable that so vast an ocean of fire as the sun, and not only the sun but also the countless stars, should revolve once a day without undergoing any changes of position in relation to one another. They may be told in addition that one can see from the planetary system that our own globe performs a daily movement and an annual one, by rotations on its axis and by revolutions. This can be recognized from the fact that the planets are globes like ours, some of which have moons around them and all of which, as observation shows, perform daily and annual movements like ours. But for all that they are told, the illusion the senses prevails with very many people – that things really are as the eye sees them. Arcana Coelestia (Elliot) 6322. To all outward appearance the external senses, such as sight and hearing, flow into thought and initiate mental images there. For the appearance is that external objects activate the senses, first the external senses, then the internal ones, and speech too. But no matter how convincing that appearance may be, it is nevertheless a misconception. For what is external, being gross and material, cannot flow in and activate what is internal, which is pure and spiritual; that would be contrary to the nature of things. It is the power of the inward senses, a power belonging to the spirit itself, that perceives things, and it does so by means of the power of the outward senses. It is also the power of the inward senses that disposes an outward sensory organ to receive impressions of objects at its bidding. So it is that outward sensory organs – such as that of sight, which is the eye – instantly adapt themselves to all the objects of the senses. Nothing of this could happen in sensory organs without the inflow they receive from within; for all the fibres and small appendages, which are very many around each sensory organ, are instantly attuned to the nature of the object. Indeed the organ itself is also immediately conditioned to conform.  Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

    7 min

  2. 3 DAYS AGO

    Remains – The Awakening of What Has Been Forgotten (3 mins)

    AC 561. To explain what a remnant is: It is not just the good and true things that we learn out of the Lord’s Word from the time we are small and that become stamped on our memory. It is also all the states that rise out of those things, such as a state of innocence from babyhood, a state of love for our parents, siblings, teachers, and friends, a state of charity toward our neighbor and compassion toward the poverty-stricken and needy. In short, it is all states of goodness or truth. These states, along with the good and true things imprinted on our memory, are called a remnant. The Lord preserves them in us, hiding them away in our inner being without our slightest awareness and carefully separating them from the things that are our own — in other words, from evil and falsity. The Lord preserves all these states in us in such a way that not even the least significant of them is lost. This I learned from the fact that every one of our states from infancy to extreme old age not only remains in the other life but even returns. When we relive them, they are identical to the experience we first lived through in the world. This happens not only with the good and true things etched on our memory but also with any state of innocence or charity we have experienced. In addition, each and every one of our states of evil and falsity (or malice and delusion) remains and returns as well, in all its minutest detail. And when the latter states come back to us, the Lord tempers them by means of the former. All of which shows that if we had no remnant, we could not help being damned for eternity (see above at §468). Arcana Coelestia 1738. For what remnants are however, see 468, 530, 560, 561, 661, 1050, where it is shown that they are all the states of love and charity, and all the states of innocence and peace, with which a person is endowed. He is endowed with these states from earliest childhood, though that endowment gradually diminishes as he advances into adult life. But while a person is being regenerated he receives, in addition to those he has already, new remnants, and thus new life; for it is from, or by means of, remnants that a person is enabled to be human. In fact, if devoid of the state of love and charity, and if devoid of the state of innocence — states that instill themselves into all the other states of his life-a person is no longer human, but worse than any wild animal.  AC 560… a remnant, as noted earlier [§530], is what lifts human life above animal life. A remnant, or rather the Lord working by means of a remnant, is what allows a person to seem human, to learn what is good and true, to reflect on particular instances of it, and so to think and reason. This remnant alone has spiritual and heavenly life in it. AC 1050. The symbolism of and every living soul within all flesh as the entire human race can be seen from the symbolism of the living soul within all flesh. Each of us is called a living soul from a living quality in us. Not one of us can live — still less live as a human being — if we do not have something living inside us. In other words, we need to have a measure of innocence, charity, and mercy, or at least something that resembles or approximates it. This measure of innocence, charity, and mercy is something we receive from the Lord in childhood and adolescence, as can be seen from the state of children and the state of adolescents. What we receive at those ages is preserved in us. What is preserved in us is what the Word calls a remnant, or survivors, and it is the Lord’s alone in us. These preserved traces are what makes it possible for us to be human when we arrive at adulthood. For more on the remnant, or remaining traces, see §§468, 530, 560, 561, 562, 563, 576. [2] The fact that the states of innocence, charity, and mercy that we experienced in early childhood and in the years when we were growing up make it possible for us to be human is plainly evident from this: We are not born into any life skills, the way brute animals are, but must learn each and every one of them, and what we learn is then turned into habit and second nature by our practicing it. Unless we learn how, we cannot even walk, or talk, or do anything else. When we practice these activities, they become almost instinctive to us. The case is the same with a state of innocence, charity, and mercy — virtues that we likewise absorb from early childhood on; if those states were not present inside us, we would be much lower than animals. But they are not acquired by education. We receive them as gifts from the Lord, who preserves them in us. These states, along with religious truth, are what are called a remnant, and are the Lord’s alone. To the extent that we suffocate them during adulthood, we become dead. When we are being reborn, these states are the starting points of the process, and we are led into them, because the Lord works through the remnant, as noted before [§§635, 711, 737:1, 857, 977:2]. Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

    3 min

  3. 6 DAYS AGO

    A Logopraxis Life Group is a Practise Group (7 mins)

    Excerpts from The Logopraxis Workbook… The Structure of a Logopraxis Life Group Meeting A Logopraxis meeting is minimalist in its form, offering a basic structure that consists of three rounds that are marked by some form of contemplative exercise. This structure serves as a framework for the practise of spiritual literacy skills. A brief description of each of the rounds follows. In Round One participants are invited to bring a summary of their experience of the work with the Text for the session. This is called a Logopraxis submission. (Aim for no more than 5-7 minutes when you share in this round). In Round Two there is an opportunity for participants to share their reflections on what they heard in the first round.  In Round Three participants can bring to the group anything else they are carrying related to the reading for the session or the Logopraxis process more generally. Meetings begin with a short time of contemplation, and whatever the group decides to do in this space, it is done with the intention of providing an environment where we can centre ourselves, steady the inner activity of our minds, and lift our awareness out of external life concerns so as to be present to what’s asked of us as a member of a Logopraxis Life Group. It is a reminder that in coming together as a group to share our experience of the Word, we are approaching the Lord. In this effort we are seeking to hold a space within which holiness resides so that a sphere of worship is created. Transitions between rounds are also marked by some form of contemplative exercise, which could be a reading, a song, a prayer, or something else. The object of the exercise is to remind practitioners to maintain a contemplative, worshipful focus.  Spiritual Literacy Logopraxis Life Groups are an opportunity to practise spiritual literacy as we speak and listen when we meet. They are a hermetically sealed container within which the material gathered from each individual’s practice can serve as the basis for creating a unique environment. It is where we may learn to be with others in a new way, and where the practise of the Word is what is central. To that end, participants are asked to be consciously present to what arises as they take part in group life through the practise of what are termed spiritual literacy ‘skills’. These skills are designed to assist us in engaging in group life consciously, and be present so as to bear witness to what’s arising within our minds as we speak and listen. It is the call to a different way of being with ourselves, with others, and with the Word as the Lord.  So, in order to hear the Lord, which really is about hearing the spiritual principles that are being illustrated in each other’s experience, we need to be able to divide our attention between what’s going on externally in the group, and what is arising inwardly so far as our responses are concerned. It’s not so much about listening to the words that a person is speaking, but listening to what arises within us in response to what’s being shared. So, it’s a state of divided attention, where we are working to be conscious of the fact that we are seeing our own states reflected back to us in what is being presented through our interactions with the Word and with others.  Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

    8 min

  4. 5 MAR

    Session 1 Overview – Innocence, as a willingness to be led by the Word, requires trust in the process of the uncomfortable states it stirs up (7 mins)

    Innocence is a willingness to be led by the Lord Heaven and Hell (Dole) 280. Since innocence is being led by the Lord and not by ourselves, all the people who are in heaven are in innocence, since all the people who are there love to be led by the Lord. They know that to be led by oneself is to be led by one’s self-centeredness, and self-centeredness is loving oneself. People who are in love with themselves are not willing to be led by anyone else. This is why angels are in heaven to the extent that they are in innocence; that is, to that extent they are absorbed in divine good and divine truth, for being absorbed in these is being in heaven.  A ‘manual ‘ on spiritual practice HH 278. The innocence of wisdom is real innocence because it is internal, being a property of the mind itself and therefore of our volition itself and our consequent understanding. When there is innocence in these, then there is wisdom as well, because wisdom is a property of volition and understanding. That is why they say in heaven that innocence dwells in wisdom and why angels have as much wisdom as they do innocence. They support the truth of this by observing that people in a state of innocence do not take credit for anything good, but ascribe and attribute everything to the Lord. They want to be led by him and not by themselves, they love everything that is good and delight in everything that is true because they know and perceive that loving what is good — that is, intending and doing good — is loving the Lord, and loving what is true is loving their neighbor. They live content with what they have, whether it is little or much, because they know that they receive as much as is useful — little if little is good for them and much if much is good for them. They do not know what is best for themselves — only the Lord knows; and in his sight everything he supplies is eternal. [2] So they have no anxiety about the future, but refer to anxiety about the future as “care for the morrow,” which they say is pain at losing or not getting things that are not needed for their life’s useful activities. They never collaborate with friends from evil intent, but only from good, fair, and honest intent. To act from evil intent, they say, is guile, which they avoid like the poison of a snake because it is diametrically opposed to innocence. Since their greatest love is to be led by the Lord, and since they ascribe everything to him, they are kept away from their self-centeredness, and to the extent that they are kept away from their self-centeredness, the Lord flows in. This is why they do not store in their memory what they hear from him, whether through the Word or through preaching, but immediately heed it, that is, intend and do it. Their intention itself is their memory. They appear extraordinarily simple in outward form, but they are wise and provident inwardly. They are the ones the Lord was referring to when he said, “Be wise as serpents and simple as doves” (Matthew 10:16). This is the nature of the innocence called the innocence of wisdom. [3] Since innocence does not take credit for anything good but ascribes it all to the Lord, and since innocence loves to be led by the Lord, giving rise to that acceptance of everything good and true that leads to wisdom, we have been so created as to be in an outward innocence when we are little, but in an inward innocence in old age, to come to the latter through the former. So when we do get old, our bodies deteriorate and we become like little children again — but like wise little children or angels, for in the highest sense, a wise infant is an angel. This is why “infant” in the Word means one who is innocent, and “elderly one” means a wise person full of innocence. 1 Footnotes: 1. [Swedenborg’s footnote] Infants in the Word mean innocence: 5608; and so do nursing babies: 3183. An old person means a wise one, or abstractly, wisdom: 3183, 6523 [6524?]. We have been so created as to become like infants as we approach old age, but with wisdom in our innocence. This is so that we may cross over into heaven in this state and become angels: 3183, 5608. The Lord is the Lamb HH 282. Since innocence, for heaven’s angels, is the very essence of what is good, we can see that the divine good emanating from the Lord is innocence itself, inasmuch as it is this good that flows into angels, moves their deepest natures, and aligns and adapts them to accept all the blessings of heaven. Much the same happens with infants, whose deeper natures are not only formed by the passage of innocence from the Lord but are also constantly adapted and aligned to accept the good of heavenly love, because the good of innocence acts from deep within, being, as already noted, the very essence of all good. This shows that all innocence is from the Lord, which is why the Lord is called the Lamb in the Word, since a lamb means innocence. 1 Because innocence is the very heart of all the good of heaven, it also affects minds so strongly that people who feel it — which happens at the approach of an angel of the inmost heaven — feel as though they are not under their own control. They are moved by such a joy, so taken out of themselves, so to speak, that it seems as though all the pleasure of the world is nothing by comparison. I speak of this from having experienced it. Footnotes: 1. [Swedenborg’s footnote] A lamb in the Word means innocence and the good it does: 3994, 10132. Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

    7 min

  5. 26 JAN

    A state of inner combats points to the fact that there is something present that opposes heaven (3 mins)

    3927. And Rachel said, With the wrestlings of God have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed. That this signifies in the supreme sense own power; in the internal sense, temptation in which there is victory; and in the external sense, resistance by the natural man, is evident from the signification of the “wrestlings of God” and of “wrestling,” as being temptations; for temptations are nothing else than wrestlings of the internal man with the external, or of the spiritual man with the natural; for each desires to rule, and when dominion is in question, combat arises, which is here called “wrestling.” That “to prevail” is to overcome, is evident without explication…. [3] That in the internal sense the “wrestlings of God” and “prevailing” denote the temptations in which man conquers, is evident from what has been said just above. But that in the external sense there is signified resistance by the natural man is because all temptation is nothing else; for as before said in spiritual temptations there is dispute about dominion, as to which shall have the supremacy, the internal man or the external; or what is the same, the spiritual man or the natural, for these are opposed to each other (n. 3913). For when man is in temptations, his internal or spiritual man is ruled by the Lord through angels; but his external or natural man through infernal spirits; and the combat between them is that which is perceived by the man as temptation. When a man is such in faith and life that he can be regenerated, he will conquer in temptations; but when he is such that he cannot be regenerated, he yields in temptations. That there is resistance by the natural man, is signified by its being said that she “wrestled with her sister;” for by “Leah,” who is here the “sister,” is signified the affection of the external man; but by “Rachel,” the affection of the internal man (n. 3793, 3819). AC 3928…The external man is indeed such that of itself it lusts for nothing else than corporeal and worldly things, these being the delights of its life. But the internal man, when it is opened toward heaven and desires the things of heaven, such as it is with those who can be regenerated, then finds heavenly delight in these things, and while the man is in temptations there is a combat between these two kinds of delight. This the man does not then know, because he does not know what heavenly delight is, and what infernal delight is; and still less that they are so entirely opposed to each other. But the celestial angels cannot possibly be with man in his corporeal and worldly delight until this delight has been reduced to subservience, so that the corporeal and worldly delight is no longer sought as the end; but for the sake of the use of serving the heavenly delight (as s hown above, n. 3913). When this has been effected, the angels can be with the man in both; but in this case his delight becomes bliss, and finally happiness in the other life. [2] He who believes that before regeneration the delight of his natural man is not infernal, and that it is not possessed by diabolical spirits, is much mistaken, and does not know how the case is with man, namely, that before regeneration he is possessed as to his natural man by genii and infernal spirits, however much he may appear to himself to be like any other man; and even though he may be with others in what is holy, and may reason about the truths and goods of faith, and may indeed believe himself to be confirmed in them; yet if he does not perceive in himself anything of the affection of what is just and equitable in his employment, and of truth and good in company and in life, let him know that his delight is that of the infernals, for there is no other love in it than that of self and the world; and when this love makes his delight, there is in it no charity and no faith. After this delight has become dominant, it is deadened and dissipated by no other means than the affirmation and acknowledgment of the holy of faith and of the good of life… When things move to the periphery Divine Providence 79. We say that what a person does in freedom in accordance with his thought also remains. For nothing whatever that a person has attached to himself can be eradicated, as it has been made part of his love and at the same time of his reason, or of his will and at the same time of his intellect, and so part of his life. This can indeed be moved aside, but still it cannot be cast out. And when it is moved aside, it is transferred as though from the center to the peripheries, and there stays. This is what we mean by its remaining. [2] So, for example, if a person in his childhood and youth attached to himself some evil by doing it out of a delight of his love — if, for instance, he defrauded, blasphemed, took revenge, or behaved licentiously — then because he did these things in freedom in accordance with his thought, he also attached them to him. But if he afterward repents, refrains from them, and views them as sins to be shunned, and so in freedom in accordance with his reason desists from them, then he has attached to him the goods of which those evils were the opposite. These goods then form the center, and they move the evils toward the peripheries, moving them further and further according to the person’s aversion to and rejection of them. But still they cannot be so cast out as to be said to be eradicated. Nevertheless, by their being moved aside they can appear as though eradicated. This is achieved by the person’s being withheld from evils by the Lord and kept engaged in goods. Such is the case with all hereditary evil and likewise with all a person’s actual evil. [3] I have also seen this attested by my experience with some people in heaven who, because they were kept by the Lord in a state of good, thought themselves to be without any evils. But to prevent them from believing that the state of good in which they were was their own, they were sent down from heaven and conveyed back into their evils, until they acknowledged that they were of themselves impelled by evils, but by the Lord were impelled by goods. And after that acknowledgment they were taken back into heaven. [4] Be it known, therefore, that these goods become attached to a person only in such a way as to be constantly the Lord’s in the person, and that to the extent a person acknowledges this, the Lord grants that the good appear to the person to be his, that is to say, that it appear to the person that he loves his neighbor or has charity as though of himself, that he believes or has faith as though of himself, and that he does good and understands truth, thus is wise, as though of himself. An enlightened person can see from this the nature and force of the appearance in which the Lord wills a person to be. And the Lord wills it for the sake of the person’s salvation, as no one can be saved without this appearance. Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

    4 min

  6. 23 JAN

    Affections and thoughts embody themselves in our sensory outer world, and what this means regarding perceiving the Lord (6 mins)

    Arcana Coelestia 3218. When angels are stirred by affections and at the same time are discussing these, such things manifest themselves among spirits in the lower sphere as representative types of animals. When the discussion concerns good affections, beautiful, gentle, and useful animals emerge such as those used in sacrifices in the Divine representative worship within the Jewish Church — such as lambs, sheep, kids, she-goats, rams, he-goats, calves, young bulls, and oxen. And whatever is seen at any time on the animal represents some mental image in the angels’ thought, which upright spirits are also allowed to perceive. From this one may see what was meant by the animals in the religious observances of the Jewish Church, and what by the same animals when mentioned in the Word, namely affections, 1823, 2179, 2180. But when angels’ discussion is about evil affections it is represented by offensive, vicious creatures serving no use, such as tigers, bears, wolves, scorpions, serpents, rats, and so on, even as such affections are also meant by these in the Word. Spiritual Experiences 716. Moreover, they who even attempt to gain entry into heaven under a shining white, angelic appearance, are turned at once into animal shapes befitting the disposition of each one. These were likewise shown to me. For the lower mind, or attitudes, or the passions, are pictured in the heaven of spirits by animals, even though they are nothing but passions and their varieties, thus shaped. So some vaguely appeared to me as birds, some as animals — but I was surprised that they were white. This happened to show that they wanted to counterfeit a shining white angel. 1748, 10 February. AC 1379… when spirits walk or are removed and advance from one place to another — occurrences witnessed very frequently — nothing else than changes of state are taking place. That is, such changes appear in the world of spirits as changes of place, but in heaven as changes of state. The same applies to many other things that are representative and present themselves visually there.  AC 5573. A certain spirit was once present, but was invisible over my head. I was led to perceive his presence from a stench of burnt horn or bone and from stinking teeth. After that a large crowd looking like a cloud appeared on the scene, coming up from below towards a higher position behind my back. These too were invisible; and they came to a halt above my head. I assumed that their invisibility was due to their own cleverness. I was told however that where the spiritual sphere obtained they were not visible, but where the natural sphere did so they were visible. They were therefore called ‘the invisible natural ones’. Regarding those spirits let me record first the disclosure that they endeavoured in a most zealous, cunning, and skillful manner to prevent any exposure at all of themselves. Having this end in view they also knew how to take away from other people the ideas they possessed and to replace these with different ones with which they prevented their own disclosure. Their endeavour to do this lasted for quite a long time. From all this I was led to see that during their lifetime those spirits had been the kind of people who did not want any of their actions or thought to be exposed, which they achieved by assuming a different countenance and a different manner of speaking. Nevertheless they had not employed any kind of pretence so as to lie and deceive. Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

    6 min

  7. 17 JAN

    The Lord is continually bringing us into new understandings of truth but never THE truth (10 mins)

    Divine Truth versus our finite understanding of truth True Christian Religion 350. [a] The truths of faith can be multiplied to infinity. This is clear from the wisdom of the angels of heaven, which grows forever. In fact, the angels say that there is never an end to wisdom. Wisdom has no other source except divine truths that have been analytically divided into forms by means of light flowing in from the Lord. Human intelligence that is truly intelligent has the same source. Divine truth can be multiplied to infinity because the Lord is divine truth itself, or truth in its infinity. He attracts all people toward himself, but because they are finite, angels and people are unable to follow that current of attraction except to a limited extent. The force of attraction toward infinity persists all the same. Divine Providence 52. (2) The infinite and eternal in itself cannot but regard something infinite and eternal from itself in finite things. By the infinite and eternal in itself we mean the Divine itself, as we just showed in the preceding discussion. By finite things we means all things created by the Divine, and especially people, spirits, and angels. And to regard something infinite and eternal from itself is to regard something Divine, that is to say, itself, in them, as a person does an image of himself in a mirror.  The existence of such an image of the Divine is something we showed several times in the treatise Divine Love and Wisdom, especially where we demonstrated that the created universe has in it an image of the human being, and that the image is an image of the infinite and eternal, Divine Love and Wisdom 317-318, thus an image of God the Creator, which is to say, of the Lord from eternity.  One must know, however, that the Divine in itself exists in the Lord, while the Divine from itself is the Divinity present from the Lord in created things. DP 53. But for this to be more fully understood, we need to illustrate it:  The Divine cannot regard anything other than the Divine, and it cannot regard this anywhere else than in things created by it. The reality of this is plain from the fact that no one can regard another except from the standpoint of some quality that he has in himself. One who loves another regards him from the standpoint of the love that he has in himself. One who is wise regards another from the standpoint of the wisdom that he has in himself. He may indeed see that the other either does or does not love him, or that the other either is or is not wise, but this he sees from the love and wisdom in himself. Consequently he conjoins himself to the other in the measure that the other loves him as he loves the other, or in the measure that the other is wise as he himself is wise, for this is what unites them. [2] It is the same with the Divine in itself, for the Divine in itself cannot regard itself from the standpoint of another, as from the standpoint of a person, spirit, or angel. For these have in them nothing of the Divine in itself from which all else springs; and to regard the Divine from the standpoint of another who has in him nothing of the Divine would be to regard the Divine from an absence of the Divine, which is not possible.  It is because of this that the Lord is so conjoined with a person, spirit, and angel that everything relating to the Divine comes not from them but from the Lord. For people know that every good and every truth that a person possesses originates not from him but from the Lord — indeed, that one cannot even name the Lord, or speak His names “Jesus” and “Christ,” without doing so from Him.  [3] It follows now from this that the infinite and eternal, which is the same as the Divine, regards all things infinitely in things finite, and that it conjoins itself with them to the degree of their reception of love and wisdom.  In short, it is possible for the Lord to have an abode and dwell in a person or angel only in something His own, and not in something native to them; for their native character is evil, and even if it were good, still it would be finite, which in and of itself cannot encompass the infinite.  It is apparent from this that it is never possible for someone finite to regard the infinite, but that it is possible for the infinite being to regard something infinite from itself in finite beings. AC 7984 … Vastation is deprivation. That the evil who had been of the church were vastated as to all good and truth, has already been shown; for the successive degrees of vastation were signified by the plagues in Egypt. But the good are vastated as to evil and falsity; with them these are successively separated, that is, rejected to the sides, and goods and truth are brought together toward the midst. This collecting together of good and truth is meant by “remains;” and when they have a full state of remains, they are then raised into heaven. This state is that which is signified by “thirty,” and the vastation by “four hundred.” The vastation of evil and falsity, and the instilling of good and truth, with the good, are effected by means of infestations, and by means of temptations. By the one, falsities and evils are removed; and by the other, goods and truths, are put on; and this even until the state becomes full. [3] It must also be told briefly what a full state is. Everyone, whether damned or saved, has a certain measure which is capable of being filled. The evil, or they who are damned, have a certain measure of evil and falsity; and the good, or they who are saved, have a certain measure of good and truth. In the other life this measure is filled with everyone; but some have a greater measure, some a less. This measure is acquired in the world by means of the affections which are of the love. The more anyone has loved evil and the derivative falsity, the greater is the measure he has gained for himself; and the more anyone has loved good and the derivative truth, the greater is his measure. The limits and degrees of the extensions of this measure are clearly seen in the other life, and cannot there be surmounted, but they can be filled, and also actually are filled, namely, with goods and truths in the case of those who have been in the affection of good and truth, and with evils and falsities in the case of those who have been in the affection of evil and falsity. Hence it is evident that this measure is the faculty gained in the world for receiving either evil and falsity, or good and truth. Instruction through truths AC 7957… For the spiritual church is distinguished from the celestial church in this, that through truth which is of faith it is introduced into the good which is of charity, thus that it has truth for its essential. The initiation is effected through truth, for through truth they are instructed what must be done, and when they do this truth, it is called good. From this good, when they have been initiated, they afterward see truths, according to which they again act. From this it is evident that whether you say “those who are of the spiritual church,” or “those who are in truth through which is good, and in truth which is from good,” it is the same. AC 7990. They are said to be in spiritual captivity who as to their interiors are kept by the Lord in good and truth, but as to their exteriors are kept by hell in evil and falsity, whence there is a combat of the external man with the internal. In this state are those kept who are being infested; and then the Lord by influx through the interiors fights for them against the afflux of evil and falsity from the hells. They are then kept as it were captive, for through influx from the Lord they desire to be in good and truth, but through the afflux from the hells they seem to themselves not to be able. This combat takes place to the end that the external man may be reduced to obedience to the internal, and thus natural things be made subordinate to spiritual things. Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

    10 min

  8. 14 JAN

    Truth without good is inflexible and combative but wedded to good it is malleable and generative (9 mins)

    AC 7977. With those who are of the spiritual church all good is acquired by means of truth, because without the truth which is of faith they do not know what spiritual truth is, nor what spiritual good is. They are indeed capable of knowing civil truth, also moral truth, and their goods, because they are concordant with things which are in the world, whence also they have a perception of these truths and goods. But spiritual truth and its good are not concordant with those things which are in the world, and in many cases are even quite at variance with them, and therefore those of the spiritual church have to be instructed about them. These things have been said to show that with those who are of the spiritual church all good must be acquired by means of truth.  AC 7975. For with those who are of the spiritual church the case is this. They have genuine goods and truths, and they have goods and truths not genuine; for the man of the spiritual church has no perception of good and truth, but acknowledges and believes as good and truth that which the doctrinal things of his church teach. For this reason he is in very many truths not genuine, consequently also in like goods, for goods have their quality from truths. That the spiritual are in very many truths not genuine, see n. 2708, 2715, 2718, 2831, 2849, 2935, 2937, 3240, 3241, 3246, 3833, 4402, 4788, 5113, 6289, 6500, 6639, 6865, 6945, 7233; and that consequently they have truths not pure (n. 6427). But still they are kept by the Lord in goods in the highest degree genuine, which is effected by means of an influx through the interiors (n. 6499), and then the truths and goods not genuine are separated thence and rejected to the sides. These are the things which are signified by “a very great mixed multitude.” AC 7966(2). These are the two states in which they who are of the spiritual church, when in good, are kept by the Lord-the first, that from the good which is of the will they see and think truth; the second, that from this marriage of good and truth they produce truths, which by willing them and doing them, again become goods, and so on continually. Such are the productions and derivations of truth with those who are of the spiritual church. In the spiritual world this is presented representatively as a tree with leaves and fruits; the leaves there are truths; the fruits are the goods of truth; the seeds are the goods themselves, from which are the rest. AC 7990. They are said to be in spiritual captivity who as to their interiors are kept by the Lord in good and truth, but as to their exteriors are kept by hell in evil and falsity, whence there is a combat of the external man with the internal. In this state are those kept who are being infested; and then the Lord by influx through the interiors fights for them against the afflux of evil and falsity from the hells. They are then kept as it were captive, for through influx from the Lord they desire to be in good and truth, but through the afflux from the hells they seem to themselves not to be able. This combat takes place to the end that the external man may be reduced to obedience to the internal, and thus natural things be made subordinate to spiritual things. Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

    10 min
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Seeking to make the Lord God Jesus Christ visible in our midst... "Where two or three are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20)

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    The Third Round
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    2016 - 2026
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