That the loves of self
and of the world, when they rule, are such I have often been
permitted to perceive by living experience. Whenever the spirits that
were in these loves during their life as men in the world drew near,
my delight receded and vanished; and I was told that at the mere
approach of such to any heavenly society the delight of those in the
society diminished just in the degree of their proximity; and what is
wonderful, the evil spirits are then in their delight. All this
indicates the state of the spirit of such a man while he is in the
body, since it is the same as it is after it is separated from the
body, namely, that it longs for or lusts after the delights or goods
of another, and finds delight so far as it secures them. All this
makes clear that the loves of self and of the world tend to destroy
the joys of heaven, and are thus direct opposites of heavenly loves,
which desire to share.
400. But it must be understood that the delight of those who are in
the loves of self and of the world, when they draw near to any
heavenly society, is the delight of their lust, and thus is directly
opposite to the delight of heaven.
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