5511. Hard things with us. That this signifies non-conjunction therewith on account of noncorrespondence, is evident from the signification of "speaking hard things," when predicated of the internal relatively to the external separate from it, as being nonconjunction on account of non-correspondence (of which above, n. 5422, 5423); for if there is no correspondence of the external with the internal, then all that which is internal and comes from the internal appears hard to the external, because there is no conjunction. As for example-if it is said by the internal, or by one who is in what is internal, that man thinks nothing from himself, but either from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, or from hell-if he thinks good, that it is through heaven from the Lord, if evil, that it is from hell-this appears altogether hard to him who desires to think from himself, and who believes that if this were as stated he would be nothing at all; when yet it is most true, and all who are in heaven are in the perception that it is so. [2] In like manner if it is said by the internal, or by those who are in what is internal, that the joy the angels have is from love to the Lord and from charity toward the neighbor-that is, when they are in the use of performing the things of love and charity-and that in these there is so great a joy and happiness as to be quite inexpressible, this will be hard to those who are in joy only from the love of self and the world, and in no joy from the love of the neighbor except for the sake of self; when yet heaven and the joy of heaven first begin in man when his regard to self in the uses which he performs, dies out. [3] Take this also as an example. If it is said by the internal that the soul of man is nothing else than the internal man, and that the internal man after death appears just like man in the world, with a similar face, similar body, and similar sensitive and thinking faculty-to those who have cherished the opinion concerning the soul that it is only a power of thought, and thereby as it were ethereal, thus without form, and that it will be clothed again with the body, what is said by the internal about the nature of the soul will seem far removed from the truth; and it will be hard to those who believe that the body only is the man, when they hear that the soul is the man himself, and that the body which is buried is of no use in the other life. And yet that this is the truth, I know; for of the Lord's Divine mercy I have been with those who are in the other life-not with a few but with many, not once but often-and have talked with them about it. So also in numberless other cases.