SWEDENBORG

TRANSACTIONS
SOCIETY (Inc.) NumberTwo
Swedenborg's Search
for the
Soul
Address given by
HAROLD GARDINER, M.S., F.R.C.S.,
at Swedenborg Birthday Celebradon,
London, January 29th, 1936
SWEDENBORG'S SEARCH
for the
SOUL
Address given by
HAROLD GARDINER, M.S., F.R.CS.,
at Swedenborg Birthday Celebration,
London, January 29th, 1936
SWEDENBORG SOCIETY (INcoRPORATED)
SWEDENBORG HOUSE
HART STREET, LONDON, W.C. 1
193
6
Swedenborg' s Search
for the
Soul.
W
E are here this evening to commemorate the
birth of Emanuel Swedenborg, one of the
great geniuses of aU ages. The record of
his genius is contained not only in his writings, but in
the devotion to Truth and Duty which he upheld
through a long and blameless life. The old definition
of genius as the infinite capacity for taking pains is
particularly applicable to him, and nowhere is it more
apparent than in the works which form the subject of
my paper this evening. These were written before rus
spiritual illumination and with the avowed intent to
discover the soul, its habitation and its relation to the
human body. With this end in view he devoted
himself to an exhaustive study of anatomy, physiology
and psychology, and the works on The Animal King-
dom, The Economy of the Animal Kingdom, Organs of
Generation, The Brain, and Rational Psychologywere
the result.
5
To appreciate the significance of these it is neces
sary to bear in mind their relation to the works that
preceded and followed them.
The early part of Swedenborg's life was devoted
largely to purely scientific pursuits, and during this
period he wrote extensively on a very wide range of
scientific subjects. 1 need not enumerate them, but
they included most, if not aB, of the subjects of science
known in his clay. These cuiminated in the Principia,
which was an attempt to explore the ultimate Reality
and mode of origin of the universe. 1 must say
something about this work, as it has a very important
bearing on the subject of my paper.
In the Principia, Swedenborg, by a process of
inteBectual induction, develops a system of cosmology
which traces the origin of matter back to a primaI
most pure force which is the first determinant of the
Infinite, and from this he evoives a series of stages the
last of which is the formation of solid matter. Each of
these stages is quite definite, is formed by a modi
fication of the preceding one, and corresponds to and
is maintained by it. As these stages are successively
formed they become relativeIy less and less active until
6
final1y the last stage, beyond which no further activity
can be withdrawn, is reached and dead matter is
created. So that we have a number of stages of decreas
ing powers of activity between the primaI force-the
first determinant of the Infinite-and the dead material
universe. These stages are the various auras of the
universe. They form the medium for the transmission
of light-higher auras for the transmission of
gravitation and magnetism and even higher ones whose
activities are not clearly understood, but about which
1 will make further reference at a later stage.
It was, then, after this monumental work that he
embarked on his search for the soul. The writings
which 1 have enumerated and which have given us the
result of his investigations are general1y described as
part of his scientific works, but 1 would suggest that
they he not so regarded, but rather as belonging essen
tial1y to the philosophical. 1 want to stress this point
very strongly because the soul lies far above and
interior to the truths of natural science, and Sweden
borg realized this even before his period of spiritual
inspiration. That being so, his mind had to rise above
the purely scientific plane in order to have any hope of
7
success in the quest. And so it must be with the
minds of those who read these books. For this reason
you will find that not only do they culminate in a
profound philosophical thesis on the nature of the
soul and its relation to the body, but the atmosphere
of a high philosophical inspiration pervades the whole
of their writing. 1 feel therefore constrained to suggest
that these works be not regarded as scientific in the
ordinary sense of the word. They are essentially
philosophical. It is true that they are based on the
most extensive scientific knowledge available at the
time they were written, but there is a superadded
philosophical argument which is their very essence.
This argument is one paraIlel with that contained in
his Principia. The one is a philosophical system
applicable to the dead material universe, and the other
its correlated system applicable to the living universe
in man, his soul, and his body.
It is quite clear that Swedenborg's mind at this
time was working entirely with this philosophical end
in view, and aIl the scientific facts he investigated he
regarded only as a means to confirm that end.
He was already seeing, perhaps dimly compared
8
with its later development, that the ultimate explana
tion of the infinite forms of nature, both living and
dead, is to be found in the correspondence between
these forms and the use they serve. This philosophical
conception was after his illumination shown to be
based on the Universal Doctrine of Uses, but even at
the earlier period his mind had formed this conception
and it shows itself throughout these philosophical works.
It was for this reason that he set himself to learn
aIl that the science of anatomy had to teach, hoping
that by studying the minute forms and relations of the
parts of the body he would be able to penetrate into
the uses that underlay them, and so by degrees to the
soul, which he regarded as the very life and originator
of those uses. These books are, however, full of
warnings that mere dissection, however assiduous and
detailed, cannot reveal the underlying truth and that
it is necessary, after learning aIl that the scalpel can
teach, to employ the more deeply penetrating methods
of intellectual reasoning and philosophical reflection.
1t was only when he had thus exerted all his powers
that he wrote the works we are considering. They
are therefore built in a mould fashioned out of scientific
9
truths in a form determined by his philosophical con
ceptions. So we have a method firstly of deduction
from the facts of science, followed by an analysis and
interpretation by philosophical induction.
We find as a result of this that if the ordinary scientific
interpretation of the observed facts were not consistent
with his philosophical conceptions he provided a new
interpretation. These are, in many cases, very revolu
tionary and stated with a boldness that only a genius
confident of his intellectual acumen could compass.
He did not attempt to confirm these interpretations
by experiment. They appeared dear to him in the
facts viewed from the standpoint of his philosophy and
though since his time a great deal of experimental
work has proved the truth of a large number of these
ideas, there is a still larger number which to-day are
not proved and sorne which remain in direct contra
diction to accepted scientific thought. So much, how
ever, has been proved to be correct that he would be
a bold man who would maintain that in years to come
the remainder will not also be shown to be true.
This, then, is the reason why these works should
not be regarded as scientific but rather as philosophical
ro
-the results he obtained were subject to no scientific
proof, but were the ofi'spring of profound philosophie
thought, and to him the clear light of philosophy was
more illuminating than the conflicting arguments of
Science. If these works are so regarded there is a
clear progress of mental development shown in aIl his
writings, from the early and purely scientific, through
the philosophical or rational phase introduced by the
Principia, to the spiritual which followed the opening
of his spiritual mind-a progress corresponding exactly
with that expounded by him in his later inspired
writings on spiritual development and regeneration.
Now let us examine more closely the way in which
Swedenborg set out to search for the soul, what he
found on bis journey, and the goal he reached. The
philosophy of the nature of the soul and its relation
to the body involves a study of the highest work of
the Creator, and a lifetime spent on it would not be
sufficient to compass it; aIl 1 can hope to do is
to put before you sorne of the fundamental principles
underlying it.
Swedenborg, then, starts with the premise that the
soul is the purest essence of man, made of so pure a
II
substance as to be capable of receiving life direct from
the Creator, analogous in the living creation to that
primaI force mentioned in the Principia as being the
first determinant of the Infinite. Now just as Sweden
borg conceived of matter being formed in descending
stages as described in the Principia, and as each of
these stages is, as it were, a covering for the preceding
one and is activated by it, so did Swedenborg regard
the soul as lying above or interior to the material body
and as using the body as a covering and an instrument.
The soul lies above the conscious mind and
therefore cannot be examined directly, as the mind
cannot rise above itself. It is, of c o u r s e ~ for this reason
that the human mind cannot form any complete con
ception of the Infinite. Swedenborg therefore sets out
to explore the soul by a process of removing its
coverings-the outermost being the material body. He
then discovers that aH parts of the body are fashioned
especiaHy for the use they have to perform-the eye
for the reception of light, the ear for that of sound, the
arteries and blood aH adaptedin the most minute
detail for their respective uses.
He then argues that, as it is inconceivable that such
IZ
a perfect thing, perfect in its parts and in their har
mony with themselves, could be produced by mere
chance, it is the use or end itself that is the cause by
which each organ is formed, so that it shaH be most
perfectly adapted not only in its general form but in
its most minute structure to the use it has to perform.
The truth of this philosophy of use he tests by a
minute exploration of the whole body and,when this
is completed, of the whole mind of man. As you will
understand, this is a task requiring aH the knowledge
and wisdom of which the human mind is capable, and
it would be the height of presumption to daim to
grasp such a subject in its entirety, for although man
is a finite human being and his body is material in
substance, the study of its structure and its relation to
man himself, i.e., his mind and soul, is unending. As
Swedenborg says, the human body has relations with
the whole universe. 1t contains within it substances
and forms and forces which are related to the mineraI,
vegetable and animal kingdoms, to the living and the
non-living, to aH the auras of the universe. In fact
it is the macrocosm in microcosm. How then can the
attempt be made to understand such a subject? It
13
cannot be done by ordinary chemical and physical
investigations. They can carry us no further than the
boundaries of the physical world. Such investigations
have been going on for centuries and the result is not
to simplify the understanding of the body, far less of
the mind, but rather to reveal more and more their
infinitely complex structure and activities. The micro
scope instead .of simplifying the problem merely had
the effect of extending the field of research a hundred
fold. Modern physical and chemical science has done
the same. This leads in passing to the suggestive
thought that though each of us is a unit and, regarded
as such, is as far removed from the Infinite as possible,
this unit when examined is found to expand, to consist
in the first place of a multitude of organs, these of a
still larger multitude of cells and each of these to be
influenced by its surrounding atmospheres of the
world; and the whole body contains within it powers
of reaction so subtle that even a passing tremor of
fear in the mind sets up immediate changes in the
material body; every emotion and indeed thought of
the mind has its definite effect. Is there any limit to
these of which the mind is capable? and does not this
14
unit-each individual human being-thus approach
to contact with the Infinite, expanding to apparently
unlimited actions and reactions as it is more interiorly
examined, in fact possessing the potentiality of per-
fecting itself to eternity by expanding its consciousness
into doser and doser rapport with the Infinite? The
only hope of arriving at even an approximate under-
standing of such a subject is to adopt the method that
Swedenborg did, namely, that of determining the
general principles governing it. He propounded three
philosophical principles for this end, namely, the
principles of Degrees, Influx and Correspondences.
It is by these that he correlates the working of the
mind with that of the body.
The conceptions prevalent in his day, and which
have persisted to a large extent since, involved the
attribution of thoughts and desires as inherent pro-
perties of the material partides of which the body is
composed. Swedenborg attributed none of this power
to matter but regarded the material parts of the body
as completely dead and becoming alive only when they
were subject to the influx of life. Life and matter are
on distinct planes and the one cannot be converted
15
into the other though they both react on each other.
So with the soul which is the inmost recipient of life
in man. He regarded it as being of the most primaI
elementary and pure substance for the direct reception
of life from the Creator, but in order that it could
become fixed and stabilized it had to clothe itself and
descend into its material covering. It is, he holds, of
such a pure form that direct contact with dead matter .
was impossible, and it had to interpose between itself
and matter coverings of a more refined nature which
would modify not only the effect of the soul on its
final material covering, but also modify the influence
of matter upon it. These intermediate coverings are
the different planes of the mind.
And so, just as the first substance of the material
universe, as explained in his Principia, passes through
stages of modification until solid matter is reached, so
does the primaI living substance of the soul pass
through a descending series of mental planes until it
reaches the material plane which it then vivifies.
Swedenborg describes three steps by which this
descent is made. First of all that from the soul to
the highest conscious part of the mind, which he
16
caUs the intelleetory or purely rational part of the
mind; then from this to the animus or lower part
more nearly akin to the animal mind, and thence to
purely physical sensations.
AU these are distinct degrees, i.e., the soul cannot
become the rational mind nor can this become the
lower more animal mind or animus-nor can this
become bodily sensation, but each reacts on the other
and depends on the others for its existence.
Thus there are the pure1y physical sensations by
which the body transmits to the lowest part of the
mind the stimuli it receives from the outer world. This
lower mind or animus has no power of discrimination
or judgment, and mere1y converts these sensations into
mental images. This spate of sensations by which it is
flooded is therefore controlled by the higher rational
mind and reduced by it to order, sorne sensations
being rejected and others used to assist in the formation
of intellectual ideas and affections, the whole being
subject to and animated by the sou!. There is there
fore, a constant descent of spiritual and living force
from the soul through the mind to the body and a
constant reverse process of ascent from the impulses
17
of the material world through the mind to the soul.
In order that this ebb and flow can be carried out in
a complete and orderly manner it is necessary that
the communications between the different degrees
should be kept free and untrammeHed and, in fact,
that aH parts of each degree must correspond in every
detail with those of the others. Now the form of
any part is affected by its use-and Swedenborg main
tained that if any part were used in a base or perverted
way its inmost form would be gradually distorted so
that it might ultimately become well nigh impossible
for it to revert to its orderly use. That the form of the
eye is adapted to its visual use needs no emphasis
nor indeed does the adaptation of the gross form of any
part of the body to its use-but Swedenborg made the
bold assumption that the minute structure of every
part of the body, and not only its gross form, also
corresponds exactly with its own particular use and
confirmed this as far as was possible by the descrip
tions of the minute structure of the body which were
known in his day. But he did not stop there. His
conception carried him still further into realms which
cannot be penetrated by any microscope, being, as
18
they are, above the kingdom surveyed by the eye.
He predicates of the cell a constant motion of its
parts-presumably molecular and atomic-and even
beyond this a subatomic motion or flux. This con-
ception again corresponds very closely with those in
the Principia-eonceptions which are strongly sup-
ported by modern investigations in the realm of
mathematics.
It is probable that Swedenborg had tbis general
conception of the relationship of the soul to the mind
and the body when he started his investigations. In
any event, the profound study of the minute structure
of the body contained in these works is inspired by
the determination to raise it above the plane of dead
materialism and fill it with a truly living philosophy.
1t was in fact an effort to interpret the nature of the
human mind and body in terms of ultimate Reality.
1 can find no record of any actual dissection or
experimental work done by himself. It is, however,
clear that he did sorne experimental work but gave
it up on account of the danger of his results biassing
his mind, for he says in his prologue to The Economy
of the Animal Kingdom:
19
1 have found when intently occupied in
exploring the secrets of the human body that as
soon as 1 discovered anything that had not been
observed before, 1 began (seduced probably by
self..;,love) to grow blind to the most acute lucu
brations and researches of others, and to originate
a whole series of inductive arguments from my
particular discovery alone; and consequentIy to
be incapacitated to view and comprehend, as
accurately as the subject required, the idea of
universals in individuals and of individuaIs in
universals. 1 therefore laid aside my instruments
and, restraining my desire for making observations,
determined rather to re1y on the researches of
others than to trust to my own.
He therefore studied aIl the works on the subject
available at his time and then used his powers of
induction to interpret them. That his assiduity in
acquiring this knowledge of facts was of the very
highest order is shown by the number of references
he makes to writers old and contemporary. The
bibliography contains the names of over one hundred
20
writers, some philosophical, some religious, and some
(at least half) anatomical.
1 should mention here a very great difficulty that
accompanies the effort to read and understand fully
these works of Swedenborg, namely, the nomencla
ture. It is, of course, that of the eighteenth century
and is very difficult to translate into modern scientific
terms so that it is almost impossible for a reader with
little anatomical knowledge to appreciate the signi
ficance of the arguments; and the advantage of a
modern knowledge of anatomy is not so great as it
might be owing to this difficulty with the nomen
clature. Many of Swedenborg's statements for this
reason appear at first to be contradicted by proved
modern experiment, but a number of these discrep
ancies disappear after closer study. This search for
the soul in the realm of the body appears strange to
us to-day, but in Swedenborg's time and before it
philosophers had devoted their greatest efforts to
discover this mystery, and there were very few organs
of the body to which the old philosophers had not
at one time or another attributed the residence of the
sou!. Swedenborg was not satisfied with any of these
21
and reviewed in series aIl the systems of the body,
deducing the functions of each in turn. This Ied him
to the conclusion that in the first place aIl parts of the
body are interdependent and serve, each in its own
way, uses that are of benefit to aIl the others. He came
to the conclusion that no part of the body was useless.
Sorne of these uses were relatively lowly and others of
the highest and most vital importance. In the latter
category he placed the circulatory, nervous, and
respiratory systems.
He regarded the blood as what he calls ' the corporeal
soul,' from which aU the body immediately derives its
life and nourishment. This conception, familiar to us,
was not new in his day: but he went further and
deduced that not only did the quality of the blood
affect all parts of the body but that it was in its turn
affected by them. He recognized that organs such as
the spleen and other glands without obvious secretions
profoundIy affected the composition of the blood and
this is, as far as we know, the first suggestion of the
modern science of Endocrinology i.e., of internaI
secretions. He also deduced selective action of the
celIs of an the organs of the body so that they extracted
22
from the blood only those special contents necessary
to them individually-e.g., to the mucous membranes
of the intestines, to the kidneys and in fact to aIl
tissues he ascribed this power. In spite of the phase
of purely mechanistic hypotheses of the last century
modern physiology has developed a theory of cellular
and chemical attraction of which Swedenborg's de
ductions are c1early the germ. 1 could enumerate
a large number of similar results confirmed by
modern experiment, e.g., that the pituitary gland
has a function of the very highest importance, that
the brain has a respiratory motion and that aIl the
tissues of the body are affected by the movements
of the lungs.
These, and a great many others, are aIl recognized
now and they are an astonishing proof of the greatness
of Swedenborg's powers of reason and induction. 1
want to make it quite c1ear, however, that in many of
these cases Swedenborg did not expIain in detail what
the functions of these parts of the body were. He
saw that they had a function and described it in general
terms but he could go no further owing to the back
wardness of scientific experiment in his day. It is
23
therefore only right to point out that we are not
justified in claiming for him that he discovered, for
example, the functions of the spleen or of the pituitary
gland; we are, however, justified in claiming that he
perceived that they had functions of a very high
arder and that they performed them by alterations in
the composition of the blood. In view of the state of
knowledge at his time so much is proof, if any were
needed, of the power of his intellect. Such then are
sorne of the results he obtained on his way through the
maze in search of the soul. The nearest he got ta the
seat of the soul was the cortex of the brain where he
discovered that the intellectual and highest faculties of
the mind resided. It would take tao long to describe
his journey to this point, but he came to the final
conclusion that the soul could not be regarded as
residing in any particular part of the body but per
meated the whole. He describes the way it does this,
by presupposing a perfectly pure spirituous fluid,
primarilyassociated with the cortex of the brain but
permeating aH the tissues of the body. This fluid is
not to be regarded as a material liquid but rather as a
force. He says of it :
24
A certain most pure fluid glances through the
subtlest fibres, remote even from the acutest
sense; it reigns universally in the whole and in
every part of its own limited universe or body
and continues, irrigates, nourishes, actuates,
modifies, forms and renovates everything therein.
This fluid is in the third degree above the blood,
which it enters as the first, supreme and most
perfect substance and force of its body, and as
the sole and proper animal force and as the
determining principle of an things. Wherefore
if the soul of the body is to be the subject of
inquiry we must first examine this fluid. But as
the fluid lies so deeply in nature no thought can
enter it .except by the doctrine of series and
degrees joined to experience.
Such a fluid cannot of course be discovered by
any chemical or other purely scientific means.
Swedenborg, however, deduces that it arises from
the simplest substance of the created universe, which,
being .the simplest and purest, is most actively
receptive of life. This spirituous fluid is the primaI
25
substance 1 mentioned earlier in my paper. 1t is dead
in itself but is receptive of life and by modifications
enters into the formation of aU the degrees of the
mind and the substances of the body by a process of
condensation or hardening, as it were, becoming less
and less actively alive as it descends through these
degrees until it has fashioned the material body.
It is the medium by which life is concentrated and
determined in the human form in the womb where it
utilizes the material substances provided by the mother
and performs the miracle of a baby. This fluid or
force fiUed with life from the Creator contains within
it aU the powers necessary for this crowning marvel
of creation, and so it is that within each baby born lies
the soul, mind and body with aIl the potentialities of
development into the highest form which the mind
can concelve.
This conception of the formation of a human being
by descent from the hig1?-est to the lowest by degrees
in correspondence with each other is exactly paraUel,
as 1 stated before, with that of the formation of dead
matter through the auras of the world as described in
the Principia and the stages in each correspond to each
26
other. This is a conception that is nowhere met with
to my knowledge other than in Swedenborg's philo
sophy. That the theories of the Principia have proved
to be entirely consistent with modernscientific thought
encourages us to expect that there is a similar truth
underlying his theory of the soul and its relation to
the body, especially when, finding as we do the beauty
of its conception and analogies, we can hardly fail to
be impressed by its appeal to the highest ideas of
which our minds are capable; and 1 would add that
the depth of wisdom to which the mind can reach in
these works is limited only by the power of the mind
that seeks to plumb them. Swedenborg himself says
just before he embarks on his final discussion on the
soul :
It now remains for us to exalt the mind or
the rational hearing and sight. But the only
way to accomplish this is by the philosophy we
have pointed out. This philosophy, however,
must be deduced from a perpetuaI intuition of
causes in causes and effects; a work truly re
quiring an immense exercise of the rational
faculty and a profound abstraction from those
27
things that affect the lower faculties. Indeed 1
do not recommend when it is commenced that
anything should be finally committed to it until
it is in fact matured.
But though our rational faculties be not raised to
this height of perfection we can understand the
essentials of his philosophy.
The soul which is inscrutable to the natural mind
f o r m ~ the body, first c10thing itself in the spirituous
fluid derived from the purest forces of the created
universe. From this are derived in succession the
highest rational faculty, or " intellectory," as Sweden
borg calls it; next the lower mind or animus c10sely
connected with the physical desires and sensations of
the body, and finally the body itself. Each of these
stages corresponds to the different auras of the universe
as described in the Principia and to them they react.
Direct influx takes place from the higher degree to .
the lower, giving it its form and maintaining its life
so that the body depends for its form and life ultimately
on the soul passing down through the degrees of the
mind, though Swedenborg is at pains to make it c1ear
28
that, in his own words, " the soul does not live from
itself but from Him who is self-living, that is from the
God of the universe without whom nothing whatever
in nature could live, much less be wise." But as there
is a direct influx of life from the soul through the
mind into the body, so is there a reverse reaction from
the material universe through the brain to the lower
animus or mind by means of sensations of an kinds.
The animus itself has no power of selection or judgment
of these, this being the function of the higher rational
mind which has to discriminate between them and select
those it needs for its own ends. Those that are not
harmonious with it are rejected. The others it adapts
into ideas and thoughts which in turn reach the soul.
In order, therefore, that life from the soul shan
animate an parts of the mind and body in its fullness
and that these shan reach as near perfection as may
be, the flow must be unimpeded, i.e., perfect harmony
must exist between the parts of the body and the
parts of the mind, and between these and the soul, and
so with the Creator. Now according to Swedenborg's
Doctrine of Forms, the form of the channel by which
this influx is maintained is dependent entirely on two
29
things, namely, the type of influence that is allowed
ta enter and remain in the body and mind from outside,
and the use ta which such influence is put.
In childhood the soul is living but has not yet
entered fully into the mind and body; these lower
parts are gradually opened ta allow the soul ta enter
in its fullness. The animus of the child has first ta
be opened from without by education, sa that it may
learn ta receive and distinguish physical sensations,
and later the rational faculty has ta be opened, but
this, as is weIl known, can only be done after the
animus is fully active. It is then that the soul is able
ta reach down from above and establish complete
harmony and union with the body. In arder that
this, which is another way of describing regeneration,
can take place it is c1early necessary that the influx
from below be kept in correspondence with that from
above. It is the part of the rational mind sa ta control
and mould the animus that those impulses only are
allowed ta remain in it which are in accord with eternal
verities. It is only these which the soul can use. That
this has the highest practical bearing on education and
conduct in all stages of life is c1ear.
30
You will remember that the soul, rational mind
and animus are c10thed in substances derived from the
first determinant of the Creator in the universe and
that those of the animus are more c1ose1y re1ated to
matter than those of the soul or rational mind. Accord
ing to Swedenborg's Doctrine of Forms these substances
are moulded according to the nature of the impulses
allowed to affect them and, as time goes on, this mould
ing becomes more and more rigid. This accounts for
the recognized plasticity of the child's mind and the
deve10pment of good and bad habits as life goes on ;
it aIso accounts for the increasing difficulty, as age
advances, of changing habits and with this are inc1uded
habits or attitudes of mind.
It is only by raising the plane of consciousness to
the leve1 of the rational mind and allowing this to be
influenced by and to act from impulses from the soul
and not from below, that complete harmony between
soul, mind and body can result. Swedenborg says :
The mind is placed in the veriest centre and
concourse between the superior acting and the
inferior reacting forces; the soul acting upon it
from above and the spirit of life acting upon the
3
1
soul; and the animus upon it from below and
the body upon the animus; showing that the
mind holds the fulcrum of the balance and weighs
things on both sides with even scales. Below are
the cupidities of the animus, the blandishments
of the senses, the pleasures of the body and the
infinitely various amusements of human societies ;
forming so many allurements and impediments to
prevent the mind from employing itself rightly in
the intuition of ends and the election of the greater
good, and from acting free1y from a ground of
choice. Besides these things there is a vast variety
of loves emanating from every man's se1fhood;
also cares, domestic, economic and public, which
come to us with the force of necessities and
which are real impediments to the mind; for to
seek our bread with anxious solicitude and to with
draw the mind from the body are in a manner two
opposites; the one is to will to live within the
world, while the other is to will to live without it.
Even this brief account of these works which l have
put before you will, l hope, have given you sorne idea
32
of the philosophy contained in them. It was an unpre
cedented feat that Swedenborg achieved, namely, to
start at the very lowest rung of the material plane of
the body and to analyse this with such acumen that
not only did he uncover many secrets of the working
of the body that have since been confirmed, but he
filled the whole subject with a living philosophy of
such a profound nature that it enabled him to rise to
a conception of the mind and soul and their relations
to the body which has not been approached in its
completeness by any other writer. 1 would like to
conc1ude with a few remarks on the practical value of
this philosophy.
ln the first place it affords a reasonable account of
the relation between mind and body both in health
and disease and is free from the illogicalities of other
systems of thought on this subject. Giving as it does
an explanation of the relations of the mind to the auras
of the world it affords a very possible explanation of the
accepted mysteries of telepathy. But to the individual
it emphasizes the necessity of keeping the body c1ean
and healthy, and free from the effects of gross appetite
and indulgence, so that it may not only send undisturbed
33
impulses to the mind but may be its active and able
servant. It emphasizes that the mind from infancy
upwards should be encouraged to use these impulses
for the highest ends and not for the sake of them
selves, and that children should be taught to exercise
their rational minds so that the truth and beauty con
veyed by these impulses may be distinguished from
the ugly and false. This involves the search by the
rational mind for beauty in aH things and truth
especially. Things of the mind and body must, if
man is to rise above the lowest, be in correspondence
with things of the soul, i.e., with the love and wisdom
of the Creator. Falsity and ugliness, pessimism and
fear, have no counterpart in Him, and Swedenborg has
given us a means of understanding how it is possible
and why it is necessary for a man so to order the actions
of his body and the thoughts of his mind that he may
attain this by developing the proper mental habits.
The whole question of habit and training is crys
tallized in this conception of Swedenborg's. If, as he
says, the form of the channels along which impulses
to and from the mind pass is changed by the nature
of the impulses they convey, it is c1ear that unless they
34
are kept in such a form as to correspond to the highest
and purest, by exclusion of the baser impulses,
obstruction to the influx from the soul must result.
A man's character is shown by this to depend on
his habit of mind. His true character is shown in
emergency and when he is off his guard, and his
reaction which shows his character depends then on
whether or no he has so moulded his mind and body as
to allow the pure influence of the soul to dominate him.
It also enables us to understand what conditions
are necessary for true happiness. Happiness can exist
only where there is absence of discord or strain, and
such a condition can only obtain when there is com
plete correspondence between the soul, the mind and
the body, for complete correspondence means com
plete harmony and so happiness. Swedenborg's
explanation of the relationship between 'the rational
mind and the animus affords a full explanation
of the difference between happiness and pleasure.
Pleasure is essentially of the animus whereas happiness
is only possible when the highest parts of the mind
are conscious of comp]ete harmony and peace. It also
enables us to understand the meaning of true beauty.
35
Beauty is clearly only realized when its subject strikes
a responding chord in the highest parts of our minds
and it can only do this when the body, the lower
sensory part of the mind and the higher are en rapport.
Beauty in art is largely one of balance and proportion.
l t appeals to us because our rational mind can see in
it a just and perfect relationship between the form
which is the result of the artist's work and the subject
truth which is its inspiration. If the effect penetrates
no deeper than the animus, it is mere prettiness or a
passing fancy.We see how happiness and beauty go
together. In those moments, aH too rare, when we are
conscious of the deepest happiness we realize that our
whole being is at peace, with no discordant note. At
those times beauty is everywhere for us. We find it
in the most unlike1y places. We see things clearly
with what we know to he a true understanding. Are
we not right in believing that at such times love and
wisdom from the Creator are passing through oursouls
and minds with exceptional power, because we have
been enabled to open our minds for its reception and
have for the time freed our minds from thoughts of
self and material things. It is, we aH know, true that
36
at those times no thought of self is present nor any
of the world-in fact things of the world seem
strangely trivial and unimportant. AlI parts of the mind
must at these times be in harmony with spiritual life
and in correspondence with it, nor must there be
any concentration of the mind on material things as
such, for cares about these dose the paths of influx.
Such happiness cannot therefore be obtained by seeking
for it. It eludes alI who seek it because in the very
thought of seeking it something of self enters into the
mind and defeats its own end.
This philosophy of influx through degrees by cor
respondence explains this experience and puts a new
and fulIer meaning into the phrase " Mens sana in
corpore sano." It lies in our power so to form our
minds and bodies that they shalI correspond and react
either to things of spiritual value or to those of the
world. If we choose the latter, influx from above
becomes more and more shut out, while our conscious
minds no longer perceive either its truth or value.
If we choose the former then not only do we acquire
a true inward cause of peace and happiness but we
see also the true beauty of both worlds.
37
It shows us why peace in our own minds can only
be obtained by tuning them to respond always, as it
were by habit, to things of spiritual value, and so, as
by the power of spiritual influx we become more and
more in tune with the Infinite, sa may we ultimately
hope to attain to the peace that passeth aIl under
standing.

THE TRANSACTIONS OF
THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY
No. J. and Modern Ideas of theUniverse
by HAROLD GARDINER, M.S., F.R.e.S.
No. 2. Swedenborg's Search for the Soul
by HAROLD GARDINER, M.S., F.R.C.S.
No. 3. UltimateReality
by the REV. L. F. HIn
Priee 1 s. each, post free
Full catalogue of Swedenborg's works unt free on n'luest to
SWEDENBORG SOCIETY
20, HART STREET
LONDON, W.C.I
Prinkd in Gr.at Bri/ain by The Campfield Press, St. Albans