160 HEAVEN and HELL §297
d. There is a direct infl ow from the Lord and also an indirect infl ow through the spiritual world:
6063 , 6307 , 6472 , 9682 , 9683. The Lord’s direct infl ow is into the most minute details of all:
6058 , 6474 – 6478 , 8717 , 8728. The Lord fl ows into our fi rst and our last things at the same time,
and how this happens: 5147 , 5150 , 6473 , 7004 , 7007 , 7270. The Lord’s infl ow is into the good
within us and through that good into the truth, and not the reverse: 5482 , 5649 , 6027 , 8685 , 8701 ,
10153. The life that fl ows in from the Lord varies according to our state and according to our
openness: 2069 [ 1909 ], 5986 , 6472 , 7343. In evil people, the good that fl ows in from the Lord is
turned into evil and the truth into falsity; from experience: 3643 [ 3642 ], 4632. We accept the good
and the consequent truth that are unceasingly fl owing in from the Lord to the extent that evil and
its consequent falsity do not block the way: 2411 , 3142 , 3147 , 5828.faith apart from love or into truth apart from good or into understanding
apart from volition.
This divine infl ow is unceasing and is accepted in what is good in
good people, but not in evil ones. In them it is either rejected or stifl ed
or distorted. So they have an evil life that spiritually understood is a
death.d298 The spirits who are with us—both those united to heaven and those
united to hell—never fl ow into us from their own memory and conse-
quent thought. If they did fl ow into us from their own thought it would
seem to us exactly as though their character was our own (see above,
§ 256 ). However, there does fl ow into us through them an affection from
a love of what is good and true from heaven and an affection from a love
of what is evil and false from hell. So to the extent that our own affection
agrees with what is fl owing in, we accept its infl uence in our thinking.
This is because our more inward thought is in complete accord with our
affection or love. To the extent that our own affection does not agree, we
do not accept [the infl uence]. We can see from this that thoughts are not
instilled into us by spirits but only an affection for what is good or an
affection for what is evil. This gives us a choice because it gives us free-
dom. It means that in our thought we can accept what is good and reject
what is evil, since we know from the Word what is good and what is evil.
What we accept in thought from affection becomes part of us, while
what we do not accept in thought from affection does not become part
of us. This enables us to determine the nature of the infl ow into us of the
good from heaven and of the evil from hell.299 I have been enabled to learn where we get the anxiety, distress of
mind, and inward sadness called depression. There are spirits who are
not yet united with hell because they are still in their fi rst state (which
will be described later when we talk about the world of spirits). They