Spiritual Experiences (Buss) n. 4604

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4604. CONCERNING INFLUX. ((It is according to all appearance that the external senses of the body, as for instance sight and hearing, inflow into the thought, and there call forth ideas; for it appears as if objects first stir the external senses, and thus the internal; and speech likewise. But, no matter even though this appearance is so strong that it seems hardly possible to be got rid of, yet is it a fallacy all the while; for the external, which is gross, can never inflow into the internal, which is purer; this is contrary to nature; but it is the internal sense, which, by means of the external sense, feels, and disposes the sensorium for receiving [the feeling] according to its nature. Wherefore, the sensorium - for instance of sight - adapts itself in a moment to all objects, which it does not from itself, but from influx out of the interior; and, moreover, thought and affection, which belong to the internal sense, determine the sight to objects, which that sense fully grasps, and which are coordinate with it. Other objects [i. e., those not co-ordinate, or on the same level with the sensorium involved], transcend it and do not appear.


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