My Understanding of Theistic Psychology
By Maria Ellora Cabbat
Instructions for this report are at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy21/459-g21-report2.htm
Table of Contents:
Review of Current Generation: Oral Presentations
A. Summary of Selections
Materialism which excludes God from science leads the mind into irreality, delusion and spiritual insanity. The consequences are serious problems within society such as crime, poverty, war, prejudice, divorce, abuse of children and women, terrorism, etc.
Materialism excludes any type of spirituality or anything that is physical, thus, focusing merely on what can be scientifically proven. Man’s consciousness is then based on the physical activity of the brain which includes thinking and feeling and his existence becomes merely a memory when he passes away. This subjective belief system leads to false realities because God is the source of all rationality and order. Thus, anything that excludes God cannot be true because God is Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Infinite. He sustains all life forms through love and rationality. Hence, the denial of God is the denial of reality and the exclusion of God leads mankind to develop false belief systems, delusional perceptions and irrational ways of thinking.
Sensuous consciousness stifles the development of ones rational consciousness and as a consequence, people who have passed on who live in a corporeal consciousness will live in the afterlife not being able to use their rational abilities leading to delusions and obsessions and hence, a life in hell throughout eternity.
Scientific revelations are Divine revelations that can be found in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. Through these writings, the Word of God through Sacred Scripture is given meaning to humans and gives clarity to the mysteries of God. Thus, they provide knowledge about God and the afterlife, not in a mystical way but rather in a scientific and rational method.
Scientific Revelations are derived from the Third Testament which are the writings of Swedenborg that contain truths leading to enlightenment. Adherence to the truths contained and revealed by scientific revelations in the natural-rational correspondences which is the highest level of rational thinking enables people to do good and contribute for the betterment of whole humanity.
Scientists who take the materialistic approach in their work and have a dualist approach during church days, end up having a divided mind. They uphold contradicting beliefs in the afterlife and conceptions about the whole universe and as a result, become unable to develop higher ways of thinking and rationality. Theistic Psychology overcomes this way of thinking by introducing dualism by gaining access to higher universal truths by means of correspondences found in the writings of Swedenborg.
Many great scientists of the past claimed to believe in God but none of them incorporated their spirituality or religion into their work of science. This segregation between science and religion can be attributed with the politics of “separation of Church and State.” Most scientists believe that God cannot be combined with science. Hence, if the premise that God is indeed present and makes scientific revelations, then their justification cannot at all be supported.
Theistic Psychology assumes that God is the cause of all events in all time and thus all reality. As rational beings, humans can then learn and make use of the laws that come from God. God communicates Himself to humankind through scientific revelations that enables the latter to cooperate and thus, live in love.
Theistic Psychology proposes that all natural events have a spiritual cause and that God is the source and the provider of all that is good and true. Thus, the knowledge that there is a God that can be known will enable humans to better their physical and mental environment. This results in the improvement in the quality of their lives here on earth as well as the afterlife.
B. My Commentary
This topic is very important because in our society today, materialism is the predominant belief system and I think that people’s way of life depend much upon it. Living in a materialistic society can be at times challenging as that temptations to conform are readily available.
If we look at the media, most of the shows and programs are based on materialism, how to look nice, how to loose weight, reality shows that treat serious matters in a comical manner. Nonetheless, the premises of Theistic Psychology counteracts these social patterns by acknowledging God in the study of human behavior which means that if I do something good, it is because God had sent His power to me to do that which I have done and this works for every individual on earth although some may not readily acknowledge the fact. Because God is the source of all rationality and of all good things, I can receive from Him by cooperating with His commandments that are revealed in Sacred Scripture and I can do this by choosing to be rational in the course of my lifetime here on earth. If I understand that God is the source of all truth by living out the Divine Revelations in my life, then I can assure myself that my decisions are rational.
I am reminded of a talk that I attended wherein a priest discussed whether or not religion can be combined with science. I sat there and listened to the speaker answer the questions that were fired to him from the audience. I remember one of the audience saying that he did not have any problem separating his religion from science. He was a visiting professor from a university and he talked about how he can easily separate the two and he openly proclaimed how he could accept this position. I left the talk bewildered because I felt that there weren’t really any clear answers so I went home with more questions in my mind. I wrestled with this idea for a while and now I am given some consolation to find out that it is possible to include God in the realm of science. Through Theistic Psychology, it is now possible to see God in science in a rational way.
Having this perspective will help me understand society in a tremendous way. Knowing that people are connected to God and to me will help me act in ways that are rational. If I keep in mind that people are spiritual beings, I would be able to understand and relate to them better by treating them not based on their outside appearances and status but on their true nature.
Knowing that spiritual events are the cause of physical events can give me a better understanding of human behavior as well. In the field of behavioral psychology, spiritual events are ignored although they do acknowledge the possibility that there are indeed such things. Yet because they cannot be empirically proven, their significance is discounted. Dealing with what can be seen is more realistic and practical. On the other hand, psychologists who consider God in their research and studies can come up with rational ideas that will enable them to explain and help people. Furthermore, knowing that there is an afterlife and a God that regulates events brings people to realize and reach their potential. People engage themselves in acts that can be selfish and irrational but if they realize that they are not their own and would acknowledge the presence of God in their lives, then society would be inhabited by a peaceful and rational people.
What they teach in school system is widely materialistic and the topic of God being included in science is almost always set aside, labeled to as being impossible and even useless. But Theistic Psychology had made it possible to put God in science which can unify the segregation that is prevalent within the minds of the scientists of our world today.
Going beyond empiricism might not be sensible for the atheistic scientist and which then can limit his or her ability to be creative in explaining events that seem impossible to be examined.
It might be difficult for people to realize that their level of rationality depends on the level of correspondences that they understand. In time though, through spiritual influx and God’s own design and plan, people will come to realize that God is in everything, even in science.
I agree with this perspective because I believe in God. I can see the rationality of this view because we are all God’s creations. Nothing exists without a creator and thus, the perspective that God is the designer of all things is rational. Without God, people would not be able to love, to think and to do anything. Science without God is incomplete; there would always be something that is missing if God’s power is not acknowledged in the many phenomena that takes place in science because all comes down to God, who is the source of all order and power.
A. Summary of Selections
Theistic Psychology sees mystical spirituality as sensuous and it is closely identified with the corporeal aspect of the mind. It is called mystical because it is based on physicalistic concepts and God is experienced on what can be felt as some force like the wind. It is based on sensing and therefore, not based on our rational faculties.
Rational spirituality on the other hand, is based on rational consciousness. There is an upper rational portion of the mind that is able to receive stimuli from the spiritual universe and there is also a bottom rational portion that takes in stimuli from the natural world. We are then dual citizens with our mind in the spiritual world and our physical body in the natural world.
The sensuous approach or achieving oneness with God is called mystical because it is a subjective experience not understandable by merely reading descriptions. Therefore, it is impossible know and go through the same experience by means of reading what has been written about the experience.
In mystical spirituality, an individual seeks oneness with God and thus assumes that God and man are of the same substance. Therefore there is a nonduality. This type of spirituality stems from self-intelligence that can lead to delusions and false ideas. In rational spirituality, there is a duality and only conjoining with God is possible. Man and God are distinctly separate from one another. Hence, man can only conjoin himself to God. Conjunction results in the achievement of higher consciousness and rational thinking. It also means salvation because the mind which is eternal ascend to higher ways of thinking and thus achieve the state of heaven.
The evolutionary significance of the difference between mystical spirituality and rationality spirituality is vital because it determines the fate of people in eternity. Without rationality, people will spend their eternity in hell. Sensuous experience leads to irrational choices, falsities, and hatreds. But those who have raised their consciousness of God by understanding and living the contents of Sacred Scripture will lead their lives in heaven throughout eternity. They are a people who choose to love and obey God and their mode of living is based on God’s reality and truth leading to higher levels of thinking and consciousness. The consciousness of God is elevated through the use and understanding of correspondences that can be found in the Writings of Swedenborg.
It is through rationality that the mind can gain an understanding of truth from God and not from sensuous experience. This implies a significant difference because the character and the quality of life we have here on earth will be carried on into the afterlife. Whatever qualities we have developed will then remain with us in eternity. Thus, our fate in infinity is dependent on how well our rational consciousness is developed which is done by understanding the correspondences that is written in Sacred Scripture and not through sensuous experience found in mystical spirituality.
Readers of Swedenborg interpret his writings in many different ways. Some thought of them as mystical. Wilson Van Dusen and other authors of the Testimony to the Invisible saw Swedenborg as a mystic and they saw his writings are allegorical presentations of his spiritual experiences. Mystical dualists and transcendentalists like Emerson rejected the idea that Swedenborg actually visited the spiritual world and that his writings are records of his direct experience and observations of the spiritual world which gave them the freedom to reinterpret his writings in accordance to their own perspective. They viewed his writings as merely literary device to present his philosophical, poetic and theological ideas.
B. My Commentary
The distinction between mystical spirituality and rational spirituality is important because it provides an explanation on how we can acquire a higher consciousness of God. What we adhere to here on earth, either sensuous or rational affects our fate in the eternal life. According to Theistic Psychology, if we follow the mystical approach which is based on the physical or natural, we will end up inoperative in the afterlife. Our task then, while we are here on earth is to develop our rational consciousness in order to be in heaven. It is therefore important to note that we are dualistic bodies, living in the natural world and spiritual world, and that only when we have passed on to the spiritual world can we become fully aware of our spiritual bodies and that the physical body which is natural and temporal dies but the spiritual body is eternal.
I have to admit though that I am still trying to makes sense of this concept. I believe that when people say that they have experienced God, they are acknowledging God’s power-- His power to work in their lives and in natural phenomena. It is not the experience itself that is glorified but God so people who feel God are not being irrational. Furthermore, it is through our experiences that we develop our consciousness because they can manifest how God works and control events. People who experience ecstatic moments and then attribute them as coming from God are not destroying their rationality but rather giving affirmation of the goodness and power of God.
Understanding and experiencing are two different things. Understanding God can be done through reading Sacred Scripture and applying them to our daily lives. On the other hand, experiencing which is dominant in mystical spirituality, is based on the five senses of the physical body that dies. In Theistic Psychology, mystical spirituality leads to delusions and falsities making it difficult for people to live in an environment that requires rationality.
I agree that man cannot be equal with God because He is the creator who has no beginning and no end. He is infinite and we are finite. We are creatures who have a beginning and thus we cannot be one with God. We can only conjoin our will to that of God so that we may be able to enjoy eternal life when we have passed on the spiritual world. Thus, we are here so that we can evolve and develop our rational spirituality and attain our potential to live in heaven. Since our earthly bodies will not last, we are to develop our rational consciousness which can be considered as a preparation for the afterlife, done by living in love and truth.
I somewhat agree with this perspective because experiencing God is different as having a true understanding of what His nature is. I think the dividing line is knowing where or how a mystical experience is given credit. Of course God cannot be solely known by merely having a mystical experience but I believe that having moments of experiencing God can give affirmation of the existence of God so that while here on earth, we can have an idea of what is to come which is much grander.
Understanding must take root in the cognitive faculties of the mind in order for a person to be able to behave or live in a rational way. Mere sensuous experience is limited only to that of the physical body and the five senses but if they are viewed in the right perspective they can be helpful in developing ones rational consciousnesss.
As a Catholic, I see parallel concepts between the catechism of the church and the writings of Swedenborg. When we profess our faith in church, we believe that we will be resurrected in heaven and live in eternal life in a glorified body which is similar to the concept of dualism. Having the idea that we have a spiritual body and not merely a physical body keeps believers hopeful of what is to come and thus live a life in goodness and love. As I read Theistic Psychology, I see how the concepts can be applied to my daily life by means of choosing rationally which is to follow what is good and true based on Sacred Scripture. I also found out that rational consciousness is the same as the Holy Spirit.
A. Summary of Selections
Regeneration is basic in Theistic Psychology because it is the foundation of how people can develop their rationality. It involves cooperation with God’s will rather than self-will. In the process, the old self which is immersed in materialism is replaced by the new self which is characterized by the love of God. Regeneration or character building is then a mechanism that is used involving the thoughts and feelings in order to build a rational consciousness. Thus, the old self is pushed down and heavenly love becomes elevated in the mind to be conjoined with the Divine Human.
Regeneration leads to conjunction with God which means that we become immortal angels in heaven. It involves living the principles that we learn from Sacred Scripture or uniting the truth that we learn with those of our actions.
One of the steps in acquiring a new will is through the examination of conscience. The conscience is the inner voice and it is developed through rational understanding of Sacred Scripture. As the doctrines are studied, they become incorporated in the cognitive mind. The next step is the application of Sacred Scripture to daily life which is called regeneration. The process of regeneration gradually creates the new will or the heavenly proprium wherein the individual will then live in heaven to eternity.
The two steps of character reformation in building a new will are first, to reject what is evil and second do what is good. In order for ones character to be reformed, one must realize that God has the power to resist the temptation and therefore, the person’s part is to obey and follow. By giving over ones will to God, He will be free to replace the old will with the new will. Over time, old evil motives will then be replaced by good and heavenly motives. It is through free will and God’s power that a person is changed.
The old will is the self that everyone is born with. It is also called the Fallen humankind and which has the inclination of doing what is evil. It is filled with hellish loves characterized by selfishness, hatred and conceit. Hence, every evil that is inherited and acquired through experience is in the old will. The new will on the other hand, is the regenerated will, which is acquired by means of understanding and living the content of Sacred Scripture. Following truth from Sacred Scripture through rational understanding creates the new will which is inclined to do what is good, to be of service and to love God and others.
Hellish traits are inherited qualities that are connected to the hells. They are personality traits characterized by disorder and irrationality.
Heavenly traits are those that are characterized by innocence and having the desire and willingness to obey God. Innocence allows a person to conform his or her will to that of God. Thus, the person is ruled, not by the self, but by God.
Personality theory in Theistic Psychology claims that humans are born into a natural body and spiritual body. Hence, the development of the whole human being is comprised of one that is natural and another that is spiritual. The mind, like the physical brain is made up of substances and thus have an organic basis. Feelings and emotions make up spiritual substances coming from the rational ether or rational space created by the outflow of the Spiritual Sun. But while in the physical body, people are unconscious of their spiritual self but once they die and no longer in the physical body, they become aware that they are immortal beings. When they die, they either become devils or angels destined to live in eternity and this depends on what was on the natural mind. The associations that had been made while still in the physical body are the determinants of what sort of spirits people would turn out to be.
Because the spiritual mind cannot develop by interacting with the natural, it has to be trained to be able to live in that type of environment.
People get their feelings and attitudes from spiritual communities that are either heavenly or hellish. The nature and nurture debate in personality theory in Psychology is similar to the claims of Theistic Psychology as that both emphasize influencing factors that affect the individual’s personality and behavior. In mainstream personality theory, they include genetics and environment, while in Theistic Psychology, the individual inherits qualities which are hellish and as the individual develops into an adult, he or she is influenced by spiritual communities-- heaven or hell and thus have to make the conscious choice of which spiritual influence to follow.
B. My Commentary
I had always been interested in personal development and it is fascinating to see how Theistic Psychology discusses the topic of regeneration and how we are to overcome or replace the old will with the new will. Aligning my will to that of God is not an easy process and a lifetime is not enough for me to become perfect. But they say that if we really want something, then we will get it. Thus, if we want to get to heaven, we have to go through character reformation. We have to do the work if we want to acquire heavenly traits and the new will and this is done by developing our rational consciousness.
I questioned where evil came from and now I know that it comes from inheritance and experience. When I was born, I had within me, evil traits that had been passed on from generation to generation and as I grow older, I can overcome this hellish traits by submitting my will to God and having the willingness to obey and follow His commandments.
In our society today, some people do not experience guilt or remorse for having done evil things. As explained by Theistic Psychology, the old will is tied to the hells and people who do evil things has not yet developed the rational consciousness to do God’s will. Everything has its time and that God is involved in all. The perfection of man is then in God’s hands and whatever knowledge we have right now in the moment was planned by the Divine Human. Because we have free will, our destiny is also dependent on us and not only God. God co-manages and our willingness to accept his love allows us to enter heaven. The spiritual race is designed to achieve the new will through rational consciousness and temptations are present in order for people to exercise the freedom to choose, either to follow the self leading to the hells or to follow God leading to heaven.
In order for a person to be reborn or to be regenerated, one must be able to recognize that the self is full of evil and that it can do nothing on its own. Everything that is good comes from God and when a person starts to glorify itself, all sorts of evil arises. One who wants to do the will of God denies the self and only wants to do good to others. It does not take credit for itself but rather to God who is the source of all truth and power. If people’s motivations are directed on the self (hellish), it is difficult for them to change but if they are aware that what they do affects the quality of life they will have in the after life, it becomes easier for them to regenerate and obey God.
I agree with the concept that I have to deny myself so that I may follow the will of God because I believe that what I do here affects what I will become in the afterlife. In my religion, the old will is replaced with the new will through baptism. I see the similarity because to be baptized means to be full of the Holy Spirit and in Theistic Psychology to be regenerated is to have a developed rational consciousness. When we make our decisions rationally, we align our will with that of God and for us to know the will of God. This concept is similar to the doctrines of the Catholic church. When we pray in church, we say Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven which means that we desire to follow God’s will and that we acknowledge that heaven is in us.
Question 6
A. Summary of Selections
Theistic Psychology views Sacred Scripture or the Old and New Testaments as writings “that are written in a style that contain multiple levels of meaning. They are therefore, figurative or symbolic. When Swedenborg extracted the meanings from the Bible by systematically applying the code of correspondences, the third component of Sacred Scripture was created, in a way that the scientific world can understand. Sacred Scripture is then made up of the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Writings of Swedenborg. It is the source of Divine Speech for which humans can learn of the Divine Human or God. By studying Sacred Scripture, the human mind can be elevated in higher consciousness, increasing in rationality that is essential in entering heaven throughout eternity.
Divine Speech descends to the spiritual mind through correspondences. People are able to receive spiritual light from the Spiritual Sun through the spiritual mind which is present the moment they are born although they are unconscious of it while they are still in the natural world. The moment that people are resuscitated in the world of spirits, they become aware of their spiritual mind and retain what they have learned while they were still on earth. Thus, the knowledge and rational principles that had been acquired from Divine Speech remain in people throughout eternity.
Correspondences are the hidden scientific meaning of Sacred Scripture that was interpreted and codified by Swedenborg based on his observations both in the natural and spiritual world based on scientific laws. In this scientific laws, every observable event or phenomenon that occurs in the natural world is an effect caused by an event in the spiritual world. It is also called spiritual-natural correspondences as that in substantive dualism and the positive bias, the spiritual and natural world has a cause and effect relationship. Because Swedenborg had a dualistic existence for 27 years, living both in the natural and spiritual world, he was able to observe the cause and effect relationship of the natural and spiritual world. Without this claim, his writings are merely speculative and not scientific. His reports and their accuracy are then the proof for which correspondences in Sacred Scripture can be claimed as valid and scientific (See also Section 3.7.3 and Section 2.10)
Theistic Psychology uses correspondences to show that Divine Speech descends to the human mind in degrees of rationality. Divine Speech descends from the Third Heaven (celestial mind) to the Second Heaven, (spiritual mind), to the First Heaven (spiritual-natural mind). While humans are still in the physical body, Divine Speech is understood by the level of thinking that they have. The highest level is through natural-rational correspondences which are universal and scientific and can be found in the writings of Swedenborg. The intermediate level can think with sensuous-rational correspondences that are found in the New Testament. The lowest level of thinking which is materialistic can think with corporeal-rational correspondences found in the Old Testament.
The natural-rational correspondence level of thinking is capable of receiving spiritual rational ideas and thus able to think spiritually. Thus, an individual who is capable of thinking rationally understands Divine Speech as an influx coming from God. This inner understanding is characteristic of an enlightened mind that is able to read the contents of Sacred Scripture and see it not in its historical, cultural, religious and natural way but in its higher universal and scientific meaning.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, God ordered the Jews to exterminate the enemy in the Holy Land or The Land of Canaan. God appeared as if he commanded the people to exterminate one another. The Old Testament was written in times wherein people’s mentality, culture and level of civilization are materialistic so the savagery of the people of those days represented the level of their thinking. In its true inner meaning, God did not command the people to kill one another because God only wills love and compassion. From the perspective of Theistic Psychology, the Holy Land of Canaan represents the regenerating mind and to conquer this land is to have a reformed character. The Land of Canaan before it is conquered signifies the unregenerate state of the mind. Extermination of enemies then represent the regeneration of the mind and that all beliefs and enjoyments that hinder character reformation must be destroyed.
Throughout the Bible, the word horse is frequently mentioned. In the perspective of Theistic Psychology, this can be interpreted as some operation in the cognitive organ and that animals are a projection of one’s thoughts and feelings. Hence, when a horse appears in the spiritual world, one is thinking about doctrines from Sacred Scripture.
B. My Commentary
Understanding the content of Sacred Scripture is vital because it helps us in the regeneration process. Knowing what the Scriptures really mean will enable us to act in ways that conform to God’s plan. Without true understanding of Sacred Scripture and how they can be applied to our life, we cannot start the regeneration process. By understanding and using the contents of Sacred Scriptures in ourselves and how it applies to us, it’s importance is therefore, very valuable not only here on earth but most especially in our lives in the afterlife.
If we want to spend our life in heaven forever, the thing to do is to prepare our minds. Examining our conscience and knowing and living Sacred Scripture are ways in which we can be regenerated. Through Divine Speech, we are conjoined with God and we keep this connection with Him as long as we are open to receive.
What Theistic Psychology proposes is completely different to what society is used to believing. Most of the Christian religions of today look at the Old Testament in its literal meaning. If people accept the positive bias and consider the writings of Swedenborg, they would more likely to accept the premises of Theistic Psychology. Correspondences in the Bible are useful in understanding ourselves and whole society. Because Sacred Scripture is written for the regeneration of human beings, it is important that people see the contents as tools in the reformation of their character. Because our society is advancing scientifically, scientists look at the Bible merely as a historical book but through correspondences, they could understand its rationality and application in this world.
The perspective of Psychology on Sacred Scripture is quite interesting. It’s a very novel idea and I think that in the future, more people will study it and spread it throughout the world. I am starting to understand how correspondences work but I’ll probably have to do more reading in order to really grasp it. There are correspondences in Old Testament, in the New Testament, in the Writings of Swedenborg.
It was a great insight to know that the thinking of the people of the Old Testament was materialistic and it make sense to me because the writings found there are full of violence, mostly wars and conflicts between people. But although the Old Testament is written in that fashion, we can look at them and take their true inner meaning through correspondences. I learned that reading the Bible is reading Theistic Psychology because it is all about how the human mind works, its condition, how it can be regenerated, etc. It always made me wonder why the Psalmists would pray for the destructions of the enemy and so knowing that what is written there have hidden meanings gave me another way of looking at Scripture.
God, who is the source of all goodness and truth cannot be a vengeful God. People sometimes look within Scripture to support their reasoning such as that going to war is in God’s will but this is not thinking spiritually but rather culturally and naturally because love and truth cannot do harm to others; God cannot hate people nor exclude a group of people from His mercy.
A. Summary of Selections
The geography of the spiritual world is equal to the anatomy of the human mind. Both are in rational ether which is created from the Spiritual Sun so when we are thinking, feeling and imagining, we exist in the spiritual world. This means that the Spiritual Sun is in the mind and because spirit communities are made up of rational ether coming from the Spiritual Sun, heaven and hell can also be contained in the mind (See also Section 5.4.1.4)
When the physical body dies, the mind is liberated and becomes conscious of the spiritual world and the society that people will end up in is dependent on the quality of their character or mental states. Those with hellish mental state will congregate in the infernal spiritual societies whereas those with loving and rational qualities will be in heaven.
Since the mental world and spiritual world are the same, a person being in his or her own mental world or in his or her thoughts and feelings means being in the same objective spiritual world of others. This concept means that we can see and be in community with other people even when we are in our own mental world. (See also Section 2.2)
The spiritual body is the mind which is comprised of the affective organ, cognitive organ and the sensorimotor organ and is a separate entity from the physical body right from birth. Since the spiritual body is separate from the physical body, the spiritual body is intact once the physical body dies. This means that the brain do not house feelings, thoughts and sensations but they are all in the mind-- in the world of spirits.
The mind cannot die because it is not born in physical space and time. Thus, it is fixed, unmovable and immortal. Electrical operations in the physical brain moves but not sensations and perceptions because these are not in space and time.
All of God’s creations are considered vessels or receptors of Divine Love but they receive it differently depending on their structure and form. Unlike the chemical world that is animated by God physically and the vegetable world and animal world which are animated livingly, the human mind is the only one that can receive rationality. Through rationality, the human mind can experience immortality. (See also Section 1.1.2)
We are immortal because the love and truth that comes from the Spiritual Sun are immortal spiritual substances that make up our spiritual body in the spiritual world. Since the mind is equal to the spiritual world, the mind cannot die. And if the mind cannot die so are people because the mind is what constitutes them. In other words, the human body deteriorates and dies but the mind lives throughout eternity.
Like the physical brain, the spiritual mind is also made up of neuronal structures only that they come from the spiritual heat and spiritual light but unlike the natural substances that make up the brain, these spiritual substances are permanent and cannot be destroyed. In other words they are eternal.
People should be concerned about the afterlife because what they take there will determine their fate in immortality. After they die, they are either in the heavens or in the hells of their mind and whatever their condition they are in will remain with them forever.
The place where one ends up in is dependent on what character one has developed while he or she is still on earth. Those who are altruistic in nature will live in a heavenly environment wherein everybody is eternally happy, young and well-supplied. They get all the goods they want. But those who are evil in character inhabit hell-like environments wherein selfishness, cruelty and dishonesty prevail.
The mental world is also a social world and the environment for which minds interact with other spirits is called the vertical community. The Vertical community is comprised of angels from heaven and devils from hell. They are therefore spirits who influence the thinking and feeling of humans here on earth. Every thought and feeling is a result of the spirit community people associate with. Negative thoughts and emotions come from hell and compassionate feelings and rational thoughts come from heaven (See also Section 1.1.1)
In the spiritual world, no thought or emotion is contained within a person. It spreads throughout the whole rational ether of the spiritual world. And because thoughts and emotions are within the mind, this means that we are never alone in our minds. Hence, the occurrence of a thought or emotion is an effect of our interaction with those spirits in the vertical communities.
People should focus on their dual citizenship because it is essential in preparation for their life in eternity. The physical body parallels the spiritual body which means that the spiritual mind develops in correspondence with that of the physical mind. This means that the quality of life that people will have after life is dependent on how well they have developed their minds and rationality. Without the right operations or character one cannot live in heaven because the mind will be unwilling to raise its consciousness. The result is living in a state of hell throughout eternity or sinking in the lowest portion of the mind and people who are in this state will be unable to experience heaven. Those who worked on their character through regeneration can experience heaven because they took the time to prepare for the afterlife.
B. My Commentary
Prior to studying Theistic Psychology, I had a vague idea of what a glorified body was like. In my religion, Catholicism, we declare our belief in the afterlife and life in eternity and the resurrection of the body. I would read my Bible and there would be scriptures that talk about it like Jesus ascending to heaven in His glorified body. I understood that the kingdom of God is within ourselves but I could not make sense of it fully. Now I know, in the positive bias, that the mind is the same as the glorified body talked about in the Bible.
As humans, we still have our propensities to do evil things and I questioned where these evil things come from. Now I know that it comes from the cumulative evils of the whole human race which evolved over time from the celestial race. We are the split brain race endowed with a natural body and spiritual body.
Before I learned of Theistic Psychology I have already been reading the Bible and this desire led me to seek Him more and more. I came to the conclusion that the self is indeed full of evil and only when I surrender to God, can I experience real joy and peace. To know God is to know love. In the Bible, it says, “God is love and whoever loves knows God.”
It was fascinating to learn about rational ether and how Divine Love outflows throughout creation and that the mind can receive spiritual love and truth from the Spiritual Sun. What the mind can conceive is limitless because God through His power gives people the rationality for them to elevate their consciousness. I have learned this concept on my own readings but it wasn’t explained like this. Divine influx is the same as Divine grace.
Knowing the nature of our existence, that we are dual citizens makes it easier to understand our purpose here in earth. We are here to develop our character so that we may be ready to live in the afterlife, to be with God. To be of Godly character is to develop altruistic loves and that is to do the good and to be of service. It is indeed difficult to follow God’s standards because after all, we are still humans.
I am reminded of one of the quotes written by Thomas Merton who was a Trapist monk. It is about how he has to persevere in order to follow God although he may not know where he is going but the desire to follow God reassured him that He is indeed doing His will. In scientific terms, this can be explained by aligning the affective portion of the mind to that of the cognitive and sensorimotor organs.We follow God’s will by intending to do it and choosing to do it. It is then up to us to make the choice and to be confident enough that God sees our hearts and is working to take us into His kingdom and that it is for us to realize who we are--His creation made on His image.
Knowing the equation spiritual world = mental world = immortality = eternity in heaven or hell can lead people to follow God’s will. How we are influenced by the vertical community is also talked about in the Bible as to how we ought to think—that we should think of things that are true, pure and of good report because that is how we can enter the Kingdom of God. This make sense because God, as explained by Theistic Psychology is the source of Divine Love and Divine truth.
I agree with the concepts of dualism and vertical community. Although I may not go through what Swedenborg experienced, I am convinced that his writings are true although I am skeptical whether or not he was really the chosen one. Overall, I can see the rationality of Theistic Psychology as that it points out to the betterment of the individual and whole humanity not only here on earth but also in the afterlife.
I. Jennifer Essig
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/essig/report1.htm
(i.) In the beginning, Jennifer felt excited that she was enrolled in a class that was about spirituality because she wanted to become a Christian counselor. She found out that it was very different to what she expected but nonetheless enjoyed the experience of having to look at her identity and look at her philosophical views.
(ii.) Jennifer argued several points of Theistic Psychology in her report such as the concept of mysticism because she considered herself as a mystic. It was interesting to read about her view on Swedenborg and to see the diagram that she included in her report. Swedenborg like all of us was limited in his knowledge, he can’t possibly know everything unless he is God. Jennifer was also skeptical about Swedenborg’s appointment as the chosen one.
She also talked about the concept of God’s love and how it becomes manifested in relationships. It is true that we love God by means of loving others because if we can’t love others then what does it mean to know such things? This is the reason why in Theistic Psychology, we have to align our affective, cognitive and sensorimotor organs that although they are at discrete levels, they act as one unit, the whole spiritual being acting in love and which of course affects how we relate to other people. Thus, when we love God, we also love others and that’s what it means to be rational because God himself is rational.
(iii.) She concluded that personal philosophies affect how people live their lives here on earth and that the belief in God strengthens people’s love for one another. She also thought that it is very difficult to combine science and religion and that each serves their own purpose well without combining the two. To quote her:
Once God and religion becomes mainstream, it seems to get corrupted and distorted to serve purposes other than what it was created for. I hope that science will be more open to theistic theories, but at the same time remain skeptical and allow only those truly seeking to find God to find the evidence for Him.
She wasn’t sure if Theistic Psychology will be of much use in Psychology in general.
(iv.) She thought that relativity is not rational and I agree with it in the sense that if not taken in the right context, it leads to hellish behavior. It is important to identify what propels a behavior and Theistic Psychology explains it through our associations with the Vertical community. What is right and wrong? We only have to look at Scriptures to see it for ourselves. Every individual is indeed unique and applying Sacred Scripture to ones life is a way of determining whether or not we are acting through God or through ourselves. As explained by Theistic Psychology and as well as my religion (although in different terms), the self which is selfish must be suppressed in order for us to acquire a new propium, a new will and that is to be in love and truth, to be in the will of God. Dr. James said in class that eventually, when we have already passed on, we will have to drop off all our hellish traits in order for us to be in heaven depending on our ruling loves.
I do believe that there should be a dividing line or a standard of how people must behave. It’s not right to do what one feels like doing. In my understanding, rationality emanates from the state of ones conscience and how the person is able to use God’s commandments or scientific revelations in life. Merely knowing Sacred Scripture is different from understanding it and applying it.
Like Jennifer, I was also very excited that I had the opportunity to take this class and I think that taking this class was a valuable experience. It not only confirmed my previous beliefs but it gave a clearer perspective of some of the things about my religion like dualism and the afterlife.
II. Ly Vuu
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/vuu/report1.htm
(i.) When Ly first heard about Theistic Psychology, she was very interested because at last she can study how it’s possible to include God in science. In all her education, God was never used to explain phenomena and so she felt that in Theistic Psychology, God is finally given the credit.
(ii.) She thought that Theistic Psychology was about “how different religions explained psychology.” Her expectations was completely different from what the class entailed and but she appreciated the fact that it included God and so she was willing to be open and learn.
(iii.) Ly concluded that Theistic Psychology has many strengths including the fact that it’s rational because it is not based on interpretations but rather on scientific observations made by Swedenborg. Ly also added that combining religion and science creates controversies and the fact that people had been so trained in their own belief systems makes it difficult for them to accept the premises of theistic psychology. She did conclude that people have to be in the positive bias and accept that God is the creator in order to understand the readings of Swedenborg.
(iv.) Like Ly, I did not know that Theistic Psychology will be based on the writings of Swedenborg. Before I took the class, I wondered what paradigm the professor will use to explain God in science. Then I found out that it’s all based on the writings of Swedenborg. I was not unfamiliar with him. I got to know about him a little while I was in the library browsing for books to read. I stumbled upon Hellen Keller’s My Religion and she wrote about Swedenborg in such high esteem and reverence so I decided that I would check one of his books. Then I saw Theistic Psychology and was surprised that it’s based on Swedenborg.
I agree that Theistic Psychology has many strengths and like Ly it had given me a broader understanding of the world as well myself. The conventional belief is that religion and science are two separate things. Blind faith can exist in religion but in Theistic Psychology, all events are explained by correspondences, by God, the creator of all. It is true that Theistic Psychology is so unique that it becomes difficult to understand it especially when taken in the negative bias but I read the writings with the positive bias because all along I believed that there is a God. It indeed made it easier for me to understand the writings.
III. Leticia Valle
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459s2004/valle/report1.htm
(i) Leticia had a trusting feeling towards the opportunity to study Theistic Psychology. For a long time, she felt that there must be some type of explanation that would not create so many divisions in religion and denomination and that there is only one universal meaning among them. She also felt that many religions separated themselves because they took the meaning of the Bible literally. Also ,she feels that Theistic Psychology is backed up by solid scientific evidence because it is based on rationality-- the concepts that are presented makes sense.
(ii) One of the strengths she found in Theistic Psychology is that God is used in explaining scientific concepts. She thought that Theistic Psychology is the best way to explain that there is a God who is responsible for everything in the universe. The weakness that she found is that the revelations were solely reported and observed by Swedenborg. She also was skeptical with the idea that he was able to live in the spiritual and natural world at the same time.
(iii) Leticia concluded that there are more strengths in Theistic Psychology than that of its weaknesses. She also stressed the importance of being in the positive bias in order to see Swedenborg’s writings as scientific and rational.
(iv) In reading Leticia’s report, I can say that I am pretty much in agreement on the things that she said. Like her, I longed for an explanation of how God can be combined in science and that He is the one who keeps the universe going. I can also relate to her in the sense that she grew up as a Catholic. I was raised up in a Catholic family and even went to Catholic school in my elementary years. In school, I learned about the Big Bang and scientific phenomena devoid of God. In my college years, I questioned the presence of God and His role in science. The dichotomy of science and religion troubled me because I felt as if I was divided, having to think of God while in church but not in school. I was immersed in the tradition but then I started to really question my beliefs. Thus, I am delighted with the fact that natural events can be explained by spiritual events through correspondences.
Like Leticia and the other students that I have reviewed, I am a little bit skeptical about Swedenborg’s journeys in the afterlife but I feel that I am more likely to accept that they are indeed true because it was the observations and scientific data that Swedenborg was concerned of and not to publicize himself and make people believe him.
Review of Current Generation: Oral Presentations
Presentation 1
Masashi Shimonao’s presentation on September 9, 2004, entitled “The Primacy Affect and Rationality” emphasized the idea that affect, such as enjoyment, pleasure, delights is the basis of understanding. I liked the quote that Masashi included which says, “Nothing is hard to a willing mind.” Education then is dependent on the enjoyment of a subject. Another concept that he covered is that of what is good and true and that the basis of their definition is on ones affect and as a result people can end up calling evil as good and good evil. This is because people have freedom capable of making their own choices. Masashi also discussed the importance of having an affect or love for what is true in order to perceive spiritual matters which is accompanied by discernment or rationality.
In Section A of this report, I wrote about regeneration and how people have to love what is good in order to really go through character reformation. Our wills and loves are based on what we enjoy and so if our old will is still within us, we would tend to focus on things that are of the self. This is similar to the concept that was presented because our experience always have an affective component. Thus, when we want to learn about God and of spiritual things, we have to be willing in order to understand.
Presentation 2
In Ami Lyons’ presentation entitled, Holistic Reality, on September 16, 2004, he talked about the concepts of the unity of all things through Love and Wisdom. He discussed how capitalism leads people exploit resources. He also talked about Divine acceptance and how people are to acknowledge the Divinity in them. Balance was also discussed which he defined as the “pull and push in everything” and related it to his personal practice of yoga. He also discussed the fact that people can learn through the body and that in our society today, people tend to overdo things like overworking and thus abuse their body in order to obtain what they want.
I think that the topics that were covered in this presentation overlaps with the concepts of Theistic Psychology that I wrote in Section A of this report. In Theistic Psychology, Love and Wisdom come from God and which give people rationality to act in ways according to His commandments written down in Sacred Scripture. The concept of Divine acceptance is similar to the concept of our willingness to be open to God. There is no limit in what we can know and become. As Ami said, we only have to acknowledge it because it is there all along. In his discussion about the practice of yoga and in achieving balance, this can be related to how we monitor our behavior and see whether or not it comes from hellish spiritual communities or heavenly spiritual communities. Abusing the body is obviously not a heavenly trait because not taking care of the body creates all types of consequences like disease. We take care of our body so that we may function properly and so that we may feel good and thus be of good use to others.
Presentation 3
In Britton Komine’s presentation entitled “Thinking Spiritually” that was held on November 4, 2004, he talked about how humans can think—naturally and spiritually. He also discussed God as a Human and that He has free choice and that His nature as infinite Love and Wisdom. Through Divine influx, humans are the only ones that can love and think rationally. Britton also talked about human’s distance from God as relative to how they act lovingly and rationally and which corresponds to people’s ability to embrace the inflowing love.
In Section A of my report, I talked about how people’s personal relationship with God and their motivation to develop their character in order to achieve higher consciousness or heaven. I also wrote about God as the source of all Divine Truth and Love and that humans receive from God through Divine Speech through Sacred Scripture. The concepts that he covered agree with the concepts that I wrote such as the fact that only humans can think rationally. Although God’s influx is throughout all creation, God gave human beings rationality that the animals don’t have.
Throughout my report, I talked about conjoining our will to that of God by living in love and truth and this agrees to what Britton talked about getting close to God. Lastly, it is up to us to receive His love and truth that comes from God.
I. What I learned from doing the report and taking Theistic Psychology:
While doing the assignment, I found out that the topics are everywhere in the writings so it was a bit difficult to decide which ones to select. I was somewhat frustrated while looking for selections because there were so many of them. But doing the report was a worthwhile experience. It gave me a better understanding of Theistic Psychology and as well as myself and society.
I enjoyed readings online although, I have to admit, they were a bit overwhelming. Throughout the semester, I would share what I’ve read to my roommate. I was so fascinated about what I have read and learned that I would just tell her and talk to her about it. "Rationality" had become one of my key words! My friends would ask what Theistic Psychology is about and I would tell them about it. Their common response was that of awe and would say things like, “that’s very interesting.”
Theistic Psychology is indeed a very interesting subject and it really made me think of my personal beliefs and values. It gave me a better understanding of the world and I am really glad that God is acknowledged as the creator and provider of all.
Although we cannot test what Swedenborg experienced and prove them through experiments, I am open to the idea that he indeed visited heaven and hell. I am a bit skeptical about this but I don’t see it as much of a problem because his evidence parallels some of my beliefs as a Catholic.
I had never read any source before as clear as Theistic Psychology presents it. I am less puzzled now and I can say that my beliefs were strengthened by reading about Theistic Psychology.
II. My Advice:
Doing the reports takes time so start early as you can. Prior generations had to do different tasks and for generation 21, most of the things that we did were repetitious. Doing this in a way teaches us self-discipline and perseverance because at some point it can be frustrating so approach the tasks with a positive attitude and you’ll likely to benefit from it.
Think of the questions and the materials covered in class and try to relate them in your daily activities. It can be fun to be able to think of the concepts and apply them to your own life. There are many topics in Theistic Psychology and Dr. James is still in the process of writing more.
Just be open to the topics and concepts that are going to be presented. Stay in the positive bias all the time and remember always that God is real, God is good, God is love and truth and He loves us all the same. J
Class Home Page:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy21/classhome-g21.htm
My Home Page:
http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/459f2004/cabbat/home.htm