Swedenborg and Rev. Sun Myung Moon: Spirals of the Spirit



By Yulian UTS /  Unification Family Therapy

It's amazing how Swedenborg's and Rev. Sun Myung Moon's theories support each other. This is an amazing video, describing how Spirals appear in various ways throughout the universe: plants, galaxies, DNA, and hurricanes. The spiritual teacher, Emanuel Swedenborg, explained that spirals occur just as frequently in the spiritual world, even in the way we grow spiritually.

Spirit Mind and Earthly Mind

Swedenborg talked of the Spiritual Mind and the Earthly Mind, spiraling in opposition, up and down. The Divine Principle also explains that human mind is a product of the give and take between the Spiritual Mind and the Physical Mind. Their unity is centered on God when the Spirit Mind is subject over the Physical Mind.
"The give and take action between the spirit mind and the physical mind produces.. the human mind, which directs the individual toward.. the purpose of creation. Man became ignorant of God because of the fall. Thus, he became ignorant of the absolute standard of goodness. But, according to the original nature of creation, the human mind always directs man toward what it thinks is good. This directing power is called human conscience." Principle of Creation
Our Mind Connected to Heaven or Hell

As Rev. Moon's Principle explains, the history develops in spiral (similar situations are repeating on different scale, for the purpose of restoration). Swedenborg also explains, that in the spiritual world and in our interior lives, almost everything is a fractal of spirals growing on spirals. According to Swedenborg, each of us forms our own small world, with heaven and hell inside us. The Divine Principle also describes this internal conflict:
"When the spirit mind and the physical mind which are under the bondage of Satan become one unit through the action of give and take, man's development in the direction of evil is accelerated. We call this unit the "evil mind". The original mind and conscience of man repel this evil mind and direct man toward goodness by helping him to separate himself from Satan and to face God."
Our Good Original Mind

In short, when our spirit mind is subject, the Original Mind is active, but when our Pyisical mind is subject, that's the Evil Mind. Swedenborg also describes the difference of when we follow the spiritual mind or our earthly mind:
"The earthly mind, with everything in it, turns in spirals from right to left, while the spiritual mind turns in spirals from left to right. So the two minds are turning in opposite directions—a sign that evil is resident in the earthly mind and that on its own, it resists the spiritual mind. Further, turning from right to left is turning downward, toward hell, and turning from left to right moves upward, toward heaven. (Divine Love and Wisdom §270)
At the extremes, the emotions drive us, whether to love of self or love of God. Those emotions shape our thoughts, and our thoughts shape our actions. But in the intermediate zone where we’re choosing which action to take, the right path isn’t always clear.

Swedenborg describes the effect on spirits as so dramatic that it even affects the way they move: "I have been shown.. that evil spirits cannot turn their bodies from left to right, only from right to left, while good spirits find it hard to turn from right to left and easy to turn from left to right. Their turning follows the flow of the deeper levels of their minds. (Divine Love and Wisdom §270)

Locked in a Particular Way of Thinking

You can think of this as a description of a state of mind: the evil spirits are so locked into a particular way of thinking that they can’t change their direction even if they want to. As Unificationists we know that evil people act under the command of their physical mind spiral, which always reverses subject and object; left over right, down over up, external over internal, horizontal over vertical, material over spiritual. Thus, even when they think they are doing good, they always end up with evil results.

A good person is the one who brings unity to those opposites, centered on God. As Franchezzo explains from the spirit world, "those spirits who are most highly advanced are those who are nearest to the central force, to the dazzling light of these starlike centers."  WSL p.97

The two opposing spirals in our mind—one up toward heaven and social good, and the other toward hell and selfishness—are powered by the things we love.
In good people, the spirals face forward [toward the Lord] and in evil people they face backward [away from the Lord]. When they spiral forward they are turned toward the Lord and are open to the inflow from him. When they spiral backward they are turned toward hell and are open to its inflow. It is important to realize that to the extent that they are turned backward they are open behind and closed in front [front being toward the Lord], and that conversely, to the extent that they are turned forward they are open in front [toward the Lord] and closed behind [toward hell]. (Divine Providence §319)
Love Determines our Orientation

Swedenborg talks about our “loves” as the things we spend our lives doing and thinking about. Thus our love determines the orientation of our spiritual spiral.
After death we all follow the path of our love—to heaven if we have loved what is good and to hell if we have loved what is evil. We find no rest until we arrive in the community where our own dominant love is; and strange as it may sound, we all know the way. It is as though we were following a scent. (Divine Providence§319)
Thus, evil is good turned upside-down, it's the destruction of order. But God uses everything to bring people back. In this image you see how Swedenborg sees the state when all our being is tuned to God's love.

Rev. Moon was teaching us how to unite both; As we grow spiritually through living for the sake of others our Spirit becomes a Subject and they both unite centered on God, thus forming a perfect Four Position Foundation; a perfect channel for God's love, beauty and goodness.

"The relationship between the spirit man and the physical man is like that between fruit and tree. When the physical mind responds to desires of the spirit mind, the physical man acts in accordance with the purpose of the spirit mind. Then the physical man receives the living spirit element from the spirit man. This brings good feelings and energy to the spirit man. Accordingly, the physical man, when it returns a wholesome vitality element to the spirit man, influence it to grow normally, in the direction of goodness." Principle of Creation
Perfect the Four Realms of Love

Next, Rev. Moon teaches, as a Husband and Wife we have to perfect the Four Realms of Love; Children's Love, Siblings Love, Conjugal Love, Parental Love. Only then we achieve complete perfection and are able to understand God's parental, unconditional love.
"The truth teaches us what it is that our spirit mind desires. When man comes to understand, through the truth, what our spirit mind desires, and why by putting it into practice he accomplishes his portion of responsibility." Principle of Creation

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