§61 heaven reflects an individual 33
a. Heaven in a single grasp appears in the form of a person, and therefore heaven is called the
universal human: 2996 , 2998 , 3624 – 3649 , 3636 – 3643 , 3741 – 3745 , 4625.
b. Our intent is the essential reality of our life, and our intellect is the ensuing manifestation of
that life: 3619 , 5002 , 9282. The life of our volition is our principal life, and the life of our intellect
fl ows from it: 585 , 590 , 3619 , 7342 , 8885 , 9282 , 10076 , 10109 , 10110. A person is a person because of
volition and consequent intellect: 8911 , 9069 , 9071 , 10076 , 10109 , 10110.
heavens, like their communities, refl ect a single individual, they refer to
heaven as the universal and divine humana—“divine” because the Lord’s
divine nature constitutes heaven (see above, §§ 7 – 12 ).
People who do not have an appropriate concept of spiritual and 60
heavenly realities cannot grasp the fact that heavenly and spiritual reali-
ties are arranged and connected in this form and image. They think that
the earthly and material elements that make up their outmost form really
make them what they are, and that without them they would not be
human. Let them know, though, that they are not human beings because
of these elements but because they are able to understand what is true
and will what is good. These are the spiritual and heavenly realities that
make them human.
People do recognize that the humanity of every individual depends
on the quality of her or his understanding and intentions. They can also
realize that the earthly body is formed to serve them in this world and to
perform useful actions in a suitable manner in this outmost sphere of
nature. This is also why the body does not do anything on its own, but
acts in complete obedience to the bidding of our understanding and
intentions. This holds true even to the point that our tongue and mouth
say whatever we think, and the body and its limbs do whatever we intend.
The actor is therefore our understanding and intention, not the body on
its own. We can see from this that matters of our understanding and
intention are what make us human, and that these are in a similar form
because they act into the very details of the body just the way an inner
reality acts into an outer one. It is because of these facts that we are called
inner and spiritual humans. Heaven is this kind of person in the greatest
and most perfect form.
This is the angelic concept of person, so angels never pay attention to 61
what someone’s body is doing, but rather to the intent from which the
body is acting. They call this the essential person, together with the intel-
lect to the extent that it is acting in unison with the intent.b