As of self

Heaven and Hell 302. If man only believed, as is really true, that all good is from the Lord and all evil from hell, he would neither make the good in him a matter of merit nor would evil be imputed to him; for he would then look to the Lord in all the good he thinks and does, and all the evil that flows in would be cast down to hell from which it comes. But because man does not believe that anything flows into him either from heaven or from hell, and therefore supposes that all things that he thinks and wills are in himself and therefore from himself, he appropriates the evil to himself, and the good that flows in he defiles with merit.

Arcana Coelestia 4320. That the life which is from the Lord alone appears with everyone as if it were in himself, is from the Lord’s love or mercy toward the universal human race, in that He wills to appropriate to each one what is His own, and to give to everyone eternal happiness. It is known that love appropriates to another what is its own; for it presents itself within the other, and makes itself present in him. How much more the Divine love! That the evil also receive the life which is from the Lord, is as with objects in the world, all of which receive light from the sun, and thereby colors, but according to their forms. Objects which suffocate and pervert the light appear of a black or foul color, but yet have their blackness and foulness from the sun’s light. So is it with the light or life from the Lord with the evil; but this life is not life, but is (as it is called) spiritual death.

Apocalypse Revealed 56. One’s own life is to look to the Lord from oneself, while life from the Lord is to look to the Lord from the Lord, and yet doing so as though of oneself. When a person is seized by this life, he sees that he is nothing, and that only the Lord is anything.

The ‘self’ arises from the moment to moment reception of Life

1. Divine Providence. Does Not Charge Us with Anything Evil or Credit Us with Anything Good; Rather, Our Own Prudence Claims Both. Almost everyone believes that we think and intend autonomously and therefore talk and act autonomously. Can we on our own believe anything else when the appearance is so convincing that it scarcely differs at all from really thinking, intending, speaking, and acting autonomously? Yet this is impossible. In Angelic Wisdom about Divine Love and Wisdom, I explained that there is only one life and that we are life-receivers. I also explained that our volition is a receiver of love and our discernment is a receiver of wisdom, and that these and nothing else are the life that we receive. Further, I explained that by creation, and under divine providence constantly since then, life seems to be within us exactly as though it belonged to us, as though it were ours, but that this is only the way it seems in order that we may be receivers. In 288-294 above I have explained that the source of our thinking is not in ourselves but in others, whose source is again not in themselves. It all comes from the Lord, whether we are evil or good. Further, this is recognized in the Christian world, especially by people who not only say but even believe that everything good and true comes from the Lord, which includes all wisdom and therefore faith and charity. They also believe that everything evil comes from the devil or from hell. [2] The only conclusion we can draw from all this is that everything we think and intend is flowing into us, and since all speech flows from thought like an effect from its cause, and all action similarly flows from volition, everything we say and do is flowing in as well, albeit secondarily or indirectly. No one can deny that everything we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel is flowing in. What about the things we think and intend, then? Can there be any difference except that what flows in from the physical world flows in through our outer or physical sensory organs, while what flows in from the spiritual world flows in through the organic substances of our inner senses or our minds? In other words, just as the organs of our outer or physical senses are attuned to material objects, the organic substances of our inner senses or our minds are receptive of spiritual objects. Since this is our actual state, what is our “self”? Our “self” is not really one or another kind of receiver, since it is nothing but the quality of its own receptivity. It is not some aspect of life that is actually ours. When we say “the self,” no one hears anything but a being that lives on its own and therefore thinks and intends on its own. Yet it follows from what has just been said that there is no such self in us and that there cannot be.

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 82. Of the proprium of man, spoken of above (n. 70), that it is the love of self and of the world. The proprium of man is nothing but dense evil (n. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307-2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283-10284, 10286, 10731). The proprium of man is his will (n. 4328). The proprium of man consists in loving himself more than God, and the world more than heaven, and in making his neighbor of no account respectively to himself, thus it is the love of self and of the world (n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660). Not only every evil, but also every falsity, springs from the proprium of man, and this falsity is the falsity of evil (n. 1047, 10283-10284, 10286). The proprium of man is hell with him (n. 694, 8480). Therefore he who is led by his proprium cannot be saved (n. 10731). The good which man does from the proprium is not good, but in itself is evil, because done for the sake of self and the world (n. 8478). The proprium of man must be separated, in order that the Lord may be present with him (n. 1023, 1044). And it is actually separated when man is reformed (n. 9334-9336, 9452-9454, 9938). This is done by the Lord alone (n. 9445). Man by regeneration receives a heavenly proprium (n. 1937, 1947, 2881, 2883, 2891). This appears to man as his own proprium, but it is not his, but the Lord’s with him (n. 8497). They who are in this proprium are in liberty itself, because liberty consists in being led by the Lord, and by His proprium (n. 892, 905, 2872, 2886, 2890-2892, 4096, 9586-9587, 9589-9591). All liberty is from the proprium, and its quality according thereto (n. 2880). What is the quality of the heavenly proprium (n. 164, 5660, 8480). How the heavenly proprium is implanted (n. 1712, 1937, 1947).

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain a focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.