We have pointed out that only by means of a fixed environment can we be led to reflect upon our own affections and thoughts, and thus realize their quality. Unless we do so we cannot know what they are. Taking them for granted without reflection, we have no desire to change them. There must be something outside of us, something that is independent of our shifting states and moods, which we may use as a fulcrum to draw ourselves out of one state and into another by an act of will. Just as the body can be transported from one place to another by walking, only because the ground is immovable; just as we can lift our self off of the ground only by leaping, or propelling our body against a resisting surface, or by taking hold of something stationary above us and pulling ourselves up by our arms; just as a boat can be moved through the water by oars or propellers only because the water resists the pressure; or as an airplane can be moved through the air by similar means, or propelled by rockets; so also it is with the progress of the mind. No one can purposely change the state of his mind without appealing to something stationary outside of the mind itself.

The entire environment of the natural world is such an immovable fulcrum. Its objects, with their distinct qualities, are fixed. If they are changed it is by means of forces that are independent of our mind. Thus there are facts and laws that we may learn to understand, and that we may use to achieve our progress. By seizing upon these stable things we can change our ideas, opinions and our objectives, and the tool by which we lay hold of them is what is called “reflection.” One may observe these fixed ultimates at different times, in different states of mind, and from different points of view; and so doing he can become aware of his own changing states. He can analyze them, appraise them, and judge their quality in relation to his life.

Such reflection upon the objects and forces of nature enables us to change the states of our external mind; but this by itself cannot empower us to change the states of our internal mind. The external mind has to do with our relation to the world of nature, with the needs of the body, and with external pleasures and worldly ambitions. The internal mind, on the other hand, is concerned with spiritual states, with our relation to the Lord, to the Word, and to the laws of the spiritual world. These cannot be learned from nature. They have to do with things invisible and intangible to the bodily senses. They cannot be learned by sense-experience, but solely from what the Lord says by means of Divine revelation. This must come by way of the bodily sense through reading and hearing the Word which, for this purpose, serves as a fixed ultimate by which to become aware of spiritual states of mind, and their quality. Concerning this we are taught:

Without the Word no one would possess spiritual intelligence, which consists in having [a] knowledge of.. . God, of heaven and hell, and of a life after death; nor would [he] know anything whatever about the Lord, about faith in Him. . . nor anything about redemption, by means of which nevertheless comes salvation. (Sacred Scriptures 114)

The knowledge that there are spiritual things existing in a world outside of us, and remaining constant irrespective of our changing state of mind, is vital to any spiritual progression. There must be a love that is universal, eternal, and the same for everyone. There must be laws, principles, truths that are constant, unchanging and absolute. Unless this were so there would be no criterion from which to judge one's own ever shifting states of affection, of thought, and of opinion. Unless this were so no one could possibly know the quality of his own thoughts and feelings, in order that he might judge them, alter them, and improve them. He would take for granted whatever he might feel spontaneously to be true and good, and would never question it. None can be led to reflect upon these deeper things that belong to the internal mind except by means of the Word. As we read:

It may also be stated that the doctrine of faith effects nothing whatever with man except the Lord gives him to reflect Wherefore people learn what is true and good from the Lord's Word in order that they may thereby reflect upon themselves [and judge] whether they are such (as the Word teaches they ought to be). This reflection is awakened in them at certain times, especially in times of trouble. Wherefore, to know truth is of the greatest moment; [for] without the knowledges of truths there can be no reflection, and consequently no reformation. (Spiritual Diary 737)

The whole purpose of the Word is to teach us what is true in the sight of the Lord. It is to teach us the laws that govern the life of the internal mind, the laws that govern in the spiritual world into which everyone will come after the body dies, and after the fixed laws and objects of nature have been left behind. Spiritual truths, the laws of the spiritual world, are independent of any human mind. They are eternal, unchanging and universal. They exist in the Divine proceeding, that is, in the Divine of the Lord which we are told “makes heaven.” They are therefore a fulcrum by means of which we may deliberately change our own inner feelings of affection, and our own ideas of human life and happiness. They are the sole means whereby we may progress spiritually into ever great intelligence and wisdom, and may acquire loves, affections, and ends more nearly in accord with those of the Lord and His heavenly kingdom.

Because there is one God, the Creator and Preserver of the entire universe, there is one Divine truth, one Divine law that applies to everyone, in all time, and in every earth in the starry heaven. The Lord has appeared to people everywhere, and has spoken this Word in accommodation to our ability to understand, in every age, from the beginning of time. He spoke it to those of the Most Ancient Church, to Noah and the prophets of the Ancient Church, to Abram and Moses, and the prophets of the Old Testament. He spoke it immediately to His disciples while He was on earth, and through the Gospels His teaching was preserved for all the generations of Christians after His resurrection. And at His Second Advent he has spoken it as adapted to our rational understanding in the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem. Whenever the true knowledge of God and of religion was threatened with destruction, the Lord has come to reveal it anew, that people might always be able to advance from spiritual ignorance to knowledge, intelligence and wisdom, and this by reflecting upon that which is true in itself, that which is transcendent over the appearances, fallacies and opinions of erring human minds.

Now the Word is unique in this: although it comes to us through the bodily senses—just as do all the other objects of nature—it enables one to penetrate the appearances of nature, and opens to view things spiritual, things intangible to the bodily senses. It is so written as to contain within the obvious sense of the letter, untold depths of meaning, to the discovery of which we may be led by our innate love of learning. The human mind is created to perceive spiritual truth. The delight of understanding is instilled in us by the Lord from earliest infancy, and this delight knows no boundary, but leads the mind on, even to the source of all truth, the first cause and origin of all things, and thus to a knowledge of God. Through the Word the love of spiritual knowledge and understanding is roused, and we are inspired to seek it, and to cherish it and choose it above the loves of self and of the world. It is therefore the sole medium of spiritual growth and progress, even during our life on earth. It continues to be the only fulcrum for the perfection of our spiritual life, after the fixed ultimates of nature have been left behind.

We are told, therefore, that the Word is written in both worlds. It appears there in written form that is stable and unchanging. Unlike the other appearances that surround the angels, it does not change with their shifting states. It remains there as a fixed ultimate, outside the angels, and performs a service similar to that which was previously performed by the fixed ultimates of nature. In order that the Word might be written on earth, it had to be written at the same time in heaven. “Inasmuch,” we read, “as the Divine truth passed down through the heavens even to the world, it became adapted to [the] angels in heaven, and also to people in the world” (True Christian Religion 85). That it continues to exist there as a fixed ultimate, unlike all other spiritual appearances, is clear from what is said in the Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture 72:

In every large Society of heaven a copy of the Word, written by angels inspired by the Lord, is kept in its sanctuary, lest being elsewhere, it should be altered in some point.

We are also told that there are two different kinds of writing in heaven, one “that exists without the aid of the hand, from mere correspondences with the thoughts. . . [and another written by the hand. The latter alone is said to be] permanent” (Heaven and Hell 262). So it is in heaven as it is on earth: there are books written by people expressing human thoughts and ideas that reflect the degree of knowledge and intelligence of the author. And there is the Word, written by the Lord, conveying the eternal truths that could be fully compassed by no finite mind, and yet which people may grasp partially, and with increasing fullness and perfection to all eternity. So it is said in the Apocalypse Revealed 200:

All thought, speech and writing derive its essence and life from him who thinks, speaks and writes. The man with his quality is therein; but the Lord alone is in the Word.

The Word, therefore, as it exists in heaven, is the sole medium whereby spirits and angels can progress spiritually, and this by reflecting upon what the Word teaches, and learning thereby how to change the states of the internal mind, and grow in the understanding and life of the Divine and eternal laws therein revealed.