Logopraxis The Third Round

Arcana Coelestia 6884. Jehovah, the God of your fathers. That this signifies the Divine of the Ancient Church, is evident from what was said above (n. 6876), where are like words. In the external historic sense, by “the God of their fathers” is meant the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; but in the internal sense is meant the Divine of the Ancient Church. That the latter, and not the former, is meant in the internal sense, can be seen from the fact that the historicals of the Word cannot enter into heaven; for the historical of the Word is natural and worldly, and those who are in heaven are in no ideas but what are spiritual, so that they understand the Word spiritually; and what is worldly, which is of the sense of the letter of the Word, is at the very threshold of heaven turned into the spiritual sense.





 



6861. Verses 9-12. And now behold the cry of the sons of Israel is come unto Me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. And now go, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, and do thou bring forth My people the sons of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the sons of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Because I will be with thee; and this shall be the sign to thee that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall worship God near this mountain. “

 



And now behold the cry of the sons of Israel is come unto Me,” signifies pity for those who are of the spiritual church; “and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them,” signifies by reason of the endeavour of subjugation by those who were in falsities; “and now go, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh,” signifies the holy proceeding from the Lord’s Human, by which the infesting falsities would be dispersed; “and do thou bring forth My people the sons of Israel out of Egypt,” signifies the consequent liberation of those who were of the spiritual church from infesting falsities; “and Moses said unto God,” signifies perception from the Divine and humiliation; “who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh?” signifies not being yet in such a state as to seem to himself to be able to go to and remove the infesting falsities; “and that I should bring forth the sons of Israel?” signifies and thus to liberate those of the spiritual church; “and He said, Because I will be with thee,” signifies that the Divine will be in the Human; “and this shall be the sign to thee that I have sent thee,” signifies the knowledge that the Divine proceeded from Himself; “when thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt,” signifies when the spiritual are liberated from infestation by falsities; “ye shall worship God near this mountain,” signifies then perception and acknowledgment of the Divine from love.





 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.







 

From the The Logopraxis Workbook



Step 6 - Preparing a Submission - Questions for Reflection 



The key to preparing a summary or submission for our group is to focus on how our task influenced our mental state:



What did we actually experience?

What did we learn about our self?

About the Lord?

About the inner activity of our mind?

Were there any insights related to the contents of the reading that illustrate what was experienced?

How can I frame this, so it supports others in my group?



Reflect & Discuss



In what way is each submission the Lord’s Gift to the Group?

How does sharing too much personal stuff distract me, or the Group?

In what way do I experience the Life Group as a spiritual community?

The Lord’s Providence exists in what each person selects to work with.

The Life Group is an opportunity to share the Holy Supper. How might this be true? See Luke 22:14-20.



 



Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

The spiritual states in us need to confirm what they have learnt from 'others'



Doctrine of Faith 1. Faith is an internal acknowledgment of truth.By faith at the present day is understood nothing more than the mental presumption that a thing is so, because it is taught by the Church, and because it is not evident to the understanding. For it is said: Believe, and do not doubt. If you answer, I do not comprehend it, you are told that this is the reason why it must be believed. The faith of the present day, therefore, is a faith in what is not known, and may be called a blind faith; and as it is the dictate of one person passed on to another, it is an historical faith. That this is not spiritual faith will be seen in what follows.



Arcana Coelestia  6945(3)...And as there was no such force before the Lord’s coming, but only after His coming, when He had made the Human in Himself Divine, therefore they could not be taken out of the lower earth, where they were being infested by falsities, and be taken up into heaven, until after the Lord’s resurrection (n. 6914). From this then it is that it is said that they would not believe, thus neither would receive what the law Divine, that is, the truth Divine says, unless they saw that it is so, thus unless they saw signs.



AC 2831. Behind, caught in a thicket. That this signifies entangled in natural knowledge, is evident from the signification of being “caught,” as here being entangled; and from the signification of a “thicket” or “tangle” as being memory-knowledge-explained in what follows. That the spiritual are held entangled in natural knowledge in regard to the truths of faith, is as follows. The spiritual have not perception of good and truth, as the celestial have, but instead of it conscience formed from the goods and truths of faith which they have imbibed from infancy from their parents and masters, and afterwards from the doctrine of faith into which they were born. They who have no perception of good and truth have to be confirmed by knowledges. Everyone forms for himself some idea respecting the things he has learned, and also respecting the goods and truths of faith; for without an idea, nothing remains in the memory otherwise than as an empty thing. Confirmatory things are added thereto, and fill up the idea of the thing, from other knowledges, even from memory-knowledges. The confirmation of the idea itself by many things causes not only that it sticks in the memory, so that it can be called forth into the thought, but also that faith can be insinuated into it.



AC 6240...What the rational is shall be briefly told. The intellectual of the internal man is called “rational,” but the intellectual of the external man is called “natural;” thus the rational is internal, and the natural is external; and they are perfectly distinct from each other. But a truly rational man is no other than he who is called a celestial man, and who has perception of good, and from good perception of truth; whereas he who has not this perception, but only the knowledge that a thing is true because he is so instructed, and from this has conscience, is not truly a rational man, but is an interior natural man. Such are they who are of the Lord’s spiritual church. They differ from the celestial as the light of the moon differs from the light of the sun; and therefore the Lord appears to the spiritual as a moon, but to the celestial as a sun (see n. 1521, 1529-1531, 4060, 4696). [2] Many in the world suppose that a rational man is one who can reason acutely about many things, and so join his reasonings together that his conclusions may appear like truth; but this is found in the very worst of men, who are able to reason skillfully and persuade that evils are goods, and that falsities are truths; and the reverse. But he who reflects can see that this is vicious phantasy, and not what is rational. The rational consists in inwardly seeing and perc...

From The Logopraxis Workbook



Remaining Neutral 

When we meet, we try to adopt and maintain a state of neutrality in relation to others, by keeping facial and verbal responses to a minimum. This is not a social gathering, and everyday social and conversational cues tend to elicit habitual patterns of interacting with others that blunt our ability to remain consciously present to the inner spiritual content arising in the contact. And this is as true for a speaker as it is for a listener. Through practising the skill of inner and outer neutrality we seek to offer a space of respect for each other, that supports speakers and listeners in maintaining an awareness of the content of their inner states within the outer world of the group setting.



Normally when we are speaking, we look to have what we are saying affirmed through verbal and facial cues offered by those listening. Through the ‘silence’ of neutrality the speaker can experience the act of speaking in a different way to how they would in their normal everyday interactions. This encourages a greater capacity for attention and reflection on the spiritual quality behind one’s words, and whether what’s being said aligns with the principles of Logopraxis group life. In this way, the practice of neutrality creates a non-directive sphere that encourages us to actively attend to what is more interior and so become more conscious of what is being said, as well as what’s produced in us as they share.



As we work to stay neutral outwardly, we are also working to notice, but not act on, any tendencies in us to correct, criticise, affirm or praise arising from within. Whilst this applies to not judging what we are hearing others saying, it also applies to maintaining a state of neutrality toward the thoughts and feelings that are caused in our own awareness as we listen. The aim in this case is not to identify with what’s arising as something coming from us, but simply to observe this as something flowing in and passing through our mental landscape. So, as we listen to hear spiritual principles as truths being illustrated about the nature of self and the nature of the Lord, part of that illustration will be from our struggle to stay non-identified with what we are observing and hearing.



Examples in practise:

·      Remove cross-talking in Round One: Only one person speaks at a time when invited to by the facilitator.

·      Body and face: Work to maintain a state of neutrality concerning our facial expressions, body language, verbal cues and prompts.

·      Not owning our thoughts: Working to stay present to the group through not identifying with the internal chatter that inevitably arises. When this happens, we simply need to redirect our attention back to being present.



Questions For Reflection



1. Is it easier or more difficult to practise neutrality when listening if I know this person outside of my Life Group - ie. a shared history, a family or social connection, a friendship. Why do you think this might be?



2. Is it easier or more difficult to practise inner neutrality towards my thoughts in my Life Group as opposed to when I am with others outside of my Life Group? Why?



3. What conditions or prompts could you set up to encourage you to practise inner neutrality in your day to day life?

Arcana Coelestia 6858...



Before the coming of the Lord into the world,



evil genii and spirits occupied all that region of heaven to which the spiritual were afterward taken up;



for before the coming of the Lord many such roamed at large and infested the good,



especially the spiritual who were in the lower earth;



but after the coming of the Lord they were all thrust down into their hells, and that region was set free and was given for an inheritance to those who were of the spiritual church.



Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Our relationship to time in any given moment offers us an opportunity see what is presenting in terms of our spiritual state



Apocalypse Explained 1130{3}: The thought of the spiritual man is abstracted from the idea of time, because it is raised above nature, and in place of that idea there is the idea of state of life, and in place of duration of time is an idea of the state of thought from affection, which constitutes life. For in the angelic heaven the sun does not rise or set or make years and days, as the sun in the world does; and for this reason the angels of heaven, because they are in spiritual ideas, think apart from time; consequently their idea of God from eternity does not take anything from origin, that is, from a beginning, but from state that it is eternal, and that everything therefore that is God and that proceeds from God is eternal, in other words, is Divine in itself. That this is so has been granted to perceive by an elevation above the natural idea into a spiritual idea.



Divine Love and Wisdom 74: Time makes one with thought from affection; for from that is the quality of man's state. And with progressions of time, in the spiritual world, distances in progress through space coincide; as may be shown from many things. For instance, in the spiritual world ways are actually shortened or are lengthened in accordance with the longings that are of thought from affection. From this, also, comes the expression, "spaces of time." Moreover, in cases where thought does not join itself to its proper affection in man, as in sleep, the lapse of time is not noticed.



Heaven and Hell 166:The like is true of all things that exist from time, as the four seasons of the year, called spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the four periods of the day, morning, noon, evening, and night; and the four ages of man, infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; and all other things that either exist from time or have a succession in accordance with time. In thinking of these a man thinks from time, but an angel from state; and in consequence what there is in them from time with man is with the angels turned into an idea of state. Spring and morning are turned into an idea of the state of love and wisdom such as they are in angels in their first state; summer and noon are turned into an idea of love and wisdom such as they are in the second state; autumn and evening such as they are in the third state; night and winter into an idea of such a state as exists in hell. This is why these periods have a like significance in the Word (see above, 155). This makes clear how natural things in the thought of man become spiritual with the angels who are with man.



The Canaanites, Amorites, Hittite's and Perizzites



Arcana Coelestia 6859 ... There are two origins of evil, and also two origins of falsity. One origin of evil is from falsity of doctrine or of religiosity; the other is from the cupidities of the love of self and of the world. As just said, the falsity of the first origin is from falsity of doctrine or of religiosity; and the falsity of the other origin is from the evil of the cupidities of the said loves. These evils are what is signified by the “Canaanite” and the “Amorite,” and these falsities by the “Hittite” and the “Perizzite.”



Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.