The Evil Within Us

  

Kevin Wisinski

The Evil Within Us: Searching for Spiritual Freedom

        We all inherit evil as we are born into the natural world, though they are not recognized at first, they still remain present internally. As we develop beliefs and create different loves and faiths for ourselves we are then opened to choice, which allows us to follow any path we choose. We learn the difference between our externals and internals but still may find confusion between the two. By confronting our evils and searching for spiritual growth it all begins within ourself.

        Throughout Swedenborg’s writings it’s clear that there is evil within each of us. Whether we embrace our evils or choose to pursue spiritual growth, first we must understand the aspects of human nature and the importance that choice plays in our life. But before digging down into our inherited evil, it’s important to look at the love we were given by the Lord. Our first love is the love for our neighbor, with this we receive our own sense of happiness and satisfaction from the good deeds that we do bring to action. While this keeps us close to innocence we must dive into the other aspects we are born into, and that just so happens to be evil.

        As I’ve already mentioned, we all inherit evil at birth. This is from our descendants long, long ago. As evil already finds its home in our bodies, we later create a love of self as we develop and learn the aspects of life such as freedom and choice. In Divine Providence it states, “From birth, we all inherit a love of self and the world, which is the source of all evil.” (Divine Providence 287). Though our evils are not recognized at first they are present and maybe hidden due to our external ways of living. From Heaven and Hell, it states, "The truth is that we are all born into evils of every kind, and consequently we are nothing but evils; and these evils are not removed from us but are only covered over by the external trappings of a civil and moral life.” (Heaven and Hell). Our evil lies where our loves reign and without guidance it’s likely that these evils have the ability to take over one’s life. What we put our faith into and what we love makes up who we are. Along with evil we are also given freedom from the Lord, which includes freedom of choice. It is said that man is prey to two loves, in our reading it states, “Man is prey to two loves, that of dominating others and that of possessing everyone's wealth. These loves, if given free rein, race away without limit. The hereditary evils a person acquires by birth come chiefly from those two loves.” (497). These are two of the strongest loves that could eventually drag you to hell if given the opportunity. These actions and loves usually end in sin. Although sin is not hereditary, evil is which can cause someone to sin, or choose wrong doings of the Lord. One must repent and change their ways in order to show progress to the Lord. Ultimately, the evil we have inherited from generations ago is still present in us and by realizing and understanding your evils, you could shun them away and move further away from evil and look to the divine for spiritual growth and salvation. In this spiritual journey we’ll be looking at the role our externals and internals have on our life, as well as how we can face our evils, and finally begin a journey of spiritual growth through truth and the Divine words of the Lord.

        Our external bodies are like the world, a reflection of the spiritual world. Our external and internal are the same as natural and spiritual. Our externals are what is seen by those that we come into contact with every day, while our internals are our interior thoughts and loves that only we are able to understand. It is stated in Heaven and Hell, “The exteriors of the spirit are the means by which it adapts to fellowship with others the man's body in the world, especially the face, speech, and movements; while the interiors of the spirit are what belong to its own will and consequent thought; and these are rarely manifested in face, speech, and movement.” (Heaven and Hell 492). You may question if it is your external or internal that defined who you are. Our internal is tied together with our will, our loves, and faith. Our externals are just a fraction of our internals, this is what we allow everyone else to see as who we are. In our readings we read about those falling away from their internal. Falling out of our internal beings and into only an external state changes the proprium that was once obtained. There are also those who are described as sycophants, In TCR it states “A person can therefore be a sycophant, and act and talk in one way in front of the world and in another with his close friends. In front of the world, he uses the will of his external man to act and talk, with his close friends that of his internal man. By the will of the internal man is meant where his dominant love is.” (True Christian Religion 493). Our dominant loves are held within our internals, these are what make up who we are. Whether we’ve chosen to love good, or love evil is dependent on who we are internally, not just what we express externally. To begin sorting out evils and truth we must learn the differences between our externals and internals and understand the role they play in who we are at our core.

        Before we look to the divine we must be able to distinguish truth from falsity, distinguish good from evil, ultimately with the goal to reject evil and begin the journey for spiritual growth. Our evils cannot be set aside until they have come to light, and this does not just mean repenting but also facing the evil already within us. While facing our evils doesn't mean we should act out our evils but do so by analyzing and carefully realizing who we are, the actions that we do follow through with, and being able to understand our own thoughts. This can be described as self-examination, where in a way we should be able to dissect ourselves and sort out the good and evil that we hold in our lives. Understanding our own volition to know what our true desires and loves are. While facing evil we must also reject the evil that comes our way. Evil can be disguised or in plain sight, some evils we might not even see as evils due to our own beliefs that we make up by ourselves. Being able to rise above and seek the divine for spiritual growth is key to overcoming the evils held within us. In DLW it states, “So it is that a person who elevates his mind to the Lord is wholly elevated to the Lord, and that a person who casts his mind down to hell is wholly cast down into it. Consequently, the whole person comes either into heaven or into hell in accordance with his life's love.” (Divine, Love, and Wisdom 369). Having an elevated mind allows more light and good to be brought in, accepting truth and the Lord’s love, and banishing all evil.  This is based upon a person’s character and will too, in DLW it also states, “The character of the love determines the character of the wisdom, and so the character of the person. The reason is that the character of the love and wisdom determines the character of the will and intellect.”, (Divine, Love, and Wisdom 368). Self-examination takes dedication to overcoming the evils found within our lives. What do we embrace?, what do we shun away for good? There are so many questions that come to mind when facing evil, by working through yourself as an individual and sorting the good, bad, and ugly, by doing so we allow for spiritual growth to hopeful prosper and push through the evil that comes our way.

        After facing our evil and beginning a spiritual growth journey, there’s one place to go for all the truth and love that can possibly be needed in order to lead a good life. That just so happens to be the Divine. The words of the Lord, the truth behind everything natural and spiritual. We were given freedom that allows us to make choices based upon what we believe makes us feel this sense of happiness. We have this external freedom that allows us to do what we want and choose our own actions. As we develop we create our own loves and desires and we’re able to think rationally and have reasoning behind our actions. Whereas our spiritual freedom is where we look to the divine as a guide to living a life of good and truth. Will and intellect can be found in each of us, as it makes up what our proprium is filled with. By looking to the divine we reach new levels of spiritual freedom, in Divine Providence it states, “Spiritual freedom comes from a love for eternal life. The only people who arrive at this love and its pleasure are people who think that evils are sins and therefore do not want to do them, and who at the same time turn toward the Lord. The moment we do this, we are in spiritual freedom, because it is only from an inner or higher freedom that we can stop intending evils because they are sins and therefore not do them. This kind of freedom comes from an inner or higher love.” (Divine Providence 73:6). Spiritual freedom comes from recognizing the evil that comes our way and looking to the lord as a stronger force. And only from an inner freedom we can shun these evils and use the word the lord gives us as a guide to a life he would want for us. In TCR its also stated that “Spiritual freedom allows a person to perceive good and truth, justice and fairness in social matters; and that ability is what the understanding itself is in essence.” (True Christian Religion 482). Wanting to look to the divine for spiritual growth can come at any point in someone’s life, understanding what can be received from the divine takes more than repentance and reading. By looking to the divine you allow the Lord to share his love and truth with you, opening up endless possibilities for good and truth. 

         To conclude, in order to finally reach spiritual growth through the divine, one must first understand the inheritance of evil that we possess and understand that our externals and internals do have a role in the outcome of our afterlife. Secondly, taking these unwanted evils and realizing what they do to us and how they set us further back from the divine. This includes facing our evil in order to shun these evils away so that we can be opened to greater things. By filling our proprium with the Lord’s love, truth, and goodness we can live life as a reflection of the Lord’s just as he suggests that we should. Throughout the reading’s Swedenborg repeatedly describes the importance that freedom and will have on our lives. We have been given freedom to make choices on our own, which lead us down paths that we have decided on, whether those paths taken lead to good or evil its up for the Lord to give us our judgement but also up to us, asking ourselves is this the life that I want to lead? Do your love and faith match up with your externals and internals? How can our proprium be filled with more useful things. Evil will forever have its place in our bodies, but we can shun these evils by looking to and following the Divine, the Lord’s words, in order to lead a life in reflection to our Lord.

“For heaven is within us, and people who have heaven within them come into heaven. The heaven within us is our acknowledgment of the Divine and our being led by the Divine.”

   -      Emanuel Swedenborg