The D esi gn o f E x i s t e n c e W ilso n V e Desi an Th gn D u o s f e E n x is t e n c e N O I T A E R C O T E C R U O E S M O M A N AT I O N F R Chrysalis Books West Chester, Pennsylvania ©2001 by Wilson Van Dusen All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Van Dusen, Wilson. The design of existence : emanation from source to creation / Wilson Van Dusen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-87785-394-0 1. Swedenborg, Emanuel, 1688–1772. 2. Spiritual life— Comparative studies. 3. Christianity and other religious. 4. Spiritual life—Christianity. I. Title. BX8711 .V36 2001 230′.94—dc21 2001028126 Credit: Illustrations of stupas appearing on page 44 are based on those found in George Michell, The Hindu Temple: An Introduction to Its Meaning and Forms (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), 12; and Lama Govinda, Psycho-cosmic Symbolism of the Buddhist Stupa (Berkeley, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1976), 23. Edited by Mary Lou Bertucci Cover design: Caroline Kulp Kline Interior Design: Sans Serif, Inc. Set in Janson by Sans Serif, Inc., Saline, Michigan Printed in the United States of America. Chrysalis Books is an imprint of the Swedenborg Foundation, Inc. For more information, contact: Swedenborg Foundation Publishers 320 North Church Street West Chester, PA 19380 or http://www.swedenborg.com. Dedicated to my fellow adventurers, the mystics of all times, places, religions, and cultures. A special thanks to the Hindu Upanishads, to the Buddhist sutras, and to Emanuel Swedenborg, a giant, even in this wondrous group. A deep bow of respect to all of you and to the Spirit that animates you. Contents INTRODUCTION Approaching the Design of Existence ix ONE Swedenborg’s Way into the Spiritual Realms 3 TWO The Universal Design 27 THREE Heaven and Hell 54 FOUR Our Inner Design 81 FIVE Exploring Our Inner Life 107 SIX Enlightenment: Returning to the One 124 SEVEN Overcoming Apparent Differences 145 EIGHT Living in the Design 165 Postscript 183 The Design of Existence 187 viii CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Approaching the Design of Existence The design of the whole of existence is an awesome idea. Even recently, it would have seemed impossible to describe the basic design. There are too many levels, too many con- ceptions. The whole fits together too wondrously. Now it seems that a quite adequate approach to the whole design can be made. In future centuries, other explorers will improve on this approach. First, I will lay out what is really meant by this bold en- terprise. Then, as part of our stage-setting preparation, I will explain how this may be possible now and, finally, how we will proceed. All this is to prepare and orient the reader. By the design of existence, I mean the total ordering of all levels of existence from God down to the material universe. You and I, as individuals, already participate in varying degrees at different levels. Our bodies are part of the material universe, but our minds and inner experiences transcend the material world. But a key element is what occurs after the death of the body. Understanding the design beyond our present life is critical because it has everything to do with how we should live today. There is an overall drift in the design toward the Ultimate. It is critical for us to under- stand this drift, or the order within the order, because it ex- plains and gives meaning to every aspect of our existence. ix Individual spiritual explorers have already found most of this grand design, so, in effect, we can draw on the work of many mystics. But because Emanuel Swedenborg found the critical missing pieces of the puzzle, we can now comfortably speak of the entire design. Become accustomed to the idea that I will be speaking of a grand hierarchy of orders of existence of which our lives are a part. When we reach what is known of the ultimate level, we will only be able to point beyond and indicate that there is much more unknown to us. Yet the drift of the whole design is so clear that we can each offer a hypothesis on the general nature of that more that is beyond our knowledge. The lowest element of the design of existence is the ma- terial universe. Certainly, we experience this aspect of the de- sign fairly easily, and the systematic probing of science has found much to explain its workings. We have no trouble in accepting the material world as it is now known and being discovered by science. As a scientist myself (a clinical psychol- ogist, to be precise), I enjoy learning about scientific findings. Still, I will not examine the wonders of the material world since the design I will be describing stretches well beyond this realm, although, occasionally to illustrate points, the de- sign of the material world will be referred to. Although I have no quarrel with science, I feel that many people take the whole of existence as simply physical. This as- sumption is understandable since it is the material world we know best. Present-day cosmology, which attempts to stretch the material world to explain everything, is limited to the four-dimensional, space-time material world. But, in trying to explain our conscious experience and even more so in ex- plaining levels approaching God, the four-dimensional mate- rial world is simply too limited. x INTRODUCTION Our brain is part of the physical world. Impairment of the brain alters both the conscious experience of persons and the physical expression of themselves in the world. This is im- mensely clear. Although our brain is part of the four-dimensional, space-time physical world, our conscious inner experience is of a different order from the material. All material objects exist in four space; however, our inner awareness occurs in five space and above.1 This accords with our experience. We can see and interact with material things, but, in our under- standing and awareness, we bring a different element to ex- istence. The aspects of creation that we will be dealing with in- clude our whole inner life and how this fits into the spiritual worlds beyond this one, indeed, fits into eternity. The inner life can be seen as both psychological and spiritual. For exam- ple, suppose a woman gets into an argument with a child and loses her temper. On one level, it is a simple interpersonal dif- ficulty. But suppose this woman is a good Buddhist and be- comes concerned that she has temporarily lost sight of the dharma, the way of Buddha. For her, the same incident has then become spiritual, that is, seen in relation to ultimate con- cerns of her life. The meaning of the spiritual will become clearer as we proceed in presenting the design, but, basically, it means seeing our life in relation to ultimates. In order to pres- ent the design, I will look at human experience in its larger, and even its ultimate, context. This is not in the least to deny 1. In my doctoral dissertation, entitled The Mind in Hyperspace (Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms, 1952), I took the mathematics of space and generated five-to-seven-dimension real spaces, demonstrating that mental events occur in five-to-seven spaces and explaining how these levels inter- act with the four-space material world. INTRODUCTION xi the ordinary limited view of our experience, but rather also to try to see it in its ultimate context and implications. There is an important secret here. In looking at the de- sign of existence, I am not looking at some massive intellec- tual structure outside ourselves. We are each a living example of creation itself. There is no one so limited as not to show aspects of this grand design. Since the design of creation pre- ceded us, we issue out of it. We are in it and reflect it. Sci- ence’s elaboration of genetics and the formation of the human being is just a lower, material part of this. Because we are part of the design of creation, many simple points can be made and clarified by reference to ordinary human experiences, as I did by showing the different reaction of a woman who argued with a child and then felt she had temporarily failed to follow the way of the Buddha. The full implication that we are each in ourselves a part of the design of existence will only gradually become apparent. Because we are each a living example of the vast design, much of what might be considered “otherworldly” can be intuitively recognized by each of us. Heaven and hell may seem beyond us while we live in a body in this world, yet we will soon see that each of us has already repeatedly experienced both heaven and hell. The more sensitively and reflectively we look at our own experience, the more we will begin to recognize intu- itively the larger design of which we are an example. Why go into all this? It is a major clarification, an antidote to the stress of conflicting doctrines, opinions, and information overload. It clarifies our nature and the nature of all that is.