In judo, you are trained to take advantage of your opponents' momentum to throw them off balance, and to the ground. You don't have to be bigger or stronger to win a combat.

There's a spiritual judo arena for each of us. When we start to try to shun evils, learn truths, and do good, we're entering the arena. We're going to engage in contests, combats.

We can expect that our opponent (our old, selfish mind/self, which believes false things and loves evil things) will try to use our new momentum to throw us off balance, and down. If we shun an evil successfully, once or twice, it will pull us into the evil of self-congratulation. If we learn some exciting new truths, it will yank us further into a pride in our own intelligence. If we fail a few times, it will throw us into despair or lead us to abandon the whole project.

If we know to expect these judo tactics, can we do better at keeping our balance? Yes, for sure. We can recognize that we're in the spiritual arena, in spiritual combats, or temptations. We can try to keep our balance, keeping the Word as our touchstone, and getting advice and support from people we love and trust. We can move without over-reaching, learning truths to match with new-found loves for doing good things. We can practice, over and over again, and not lose heart.

Judo is not mentioned in the Bible, but when you look, you can see the techniques at work:

Three times in the Old Testament, there are stories of good high priests - Aaron, Eli, and Samuel - who have evil sons that they don't rein in. Initially strong, good efforts get pulled off balance, either by inattention or pride or neglected practice. (See Leviticus 10:1-2, 1 Samuel 2:12-34, and 1 Samuel 8:1-3)

The three most prominent kings of Israel, Saul, David, and Solomon, all start well, but get seduced by their power, pride, or wealth, which seem to corrupt them.

In another case, during the Exodus, Moses has led the Children of Israel out of Egypt, and towards the land of Canaan. He's doing well, obeying the Lord's commands. But at Meribah, he gets impatient, and loses trust in the Lord, and tries to take matters into his own hands. As a result, he's not permitted to enter the Promised Land. (See Numbers 20:6-13)

In Swedenborg's work, "The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine", there's a chapter about temptation that begins in section 196. In section 197 we find this statement:

"Temptation is a combat between the internal or spiritual man, and the external or natural man. (See Arcana Coelestia 2183, 4256)"

When you set out to make spiritual progress, you're entering the judo arena. Your new-forming spiritual self will combat your habitual "natural" self. You'll be fighting to keep your balance, and -- if you stay aware that you're in a spiritual battle -- you'll even be able to see ways to throw evil and falsity off-balance, to the ground.

198. The nature of a spiritual crisis caused by lack of truth, and the longing for truth that results from it: 2682, 8352. How little children are tested in the other life, a process by which they learn to resist evils: 2294. How spiritual crisis, persecution, and devastation differ from each other: 7474.

How and when crises of the spirit take place. Spiritual battles are waged primarily by means of truths that belong to religious faith: 8962. Therefore truth is the first requirement for the battle: 1685. The crises of the spirit that people of the spiritual church undergo concern the truths that belong to their religious faith, so their battles are waged by means of truths; the crises of the spirit that people of the heavenly church undergo concern the good that they love to do, so their battles are waged by means of goodness: 1668, 8962. For the most part, the people of the spiritual church do not have genuine truths to use in the battle, but instead things they believe to be true because they were taught them by their church; to be effective, though, these teachings need to be capable of being joined to what is good: 6765.

When we are being regenerated we have to experience crises of the spirit. Apart from such crises regeneration is impossible (5036, 8403), and that is why spiritual crises are necessary (7090). As we are being regenerated, we come into spiritual crises when evil tries to gain control over goodness and our earthly self tries to gain control over our spiritual self: 6657, 8961. We also come into spiritual crises at the point when goodness needs to take the lead: 4248, 4249, 4256, 8962, 8963. When we are being regenerated we are brought first into a tranquil state, then into spiritual crises, then back to the tranquil state of peace that has become our goal: 3696.

1106. VASTATIONS

There are many people who, when they were in the world, out of simplicity and ignorance absorbed falsities in respect to religious faith, but who possessed a kind of conscience that was in keeping with the basic assumptions of their faith. They did not live as others - hating, getting revenge, and committing adultery. In the next life those people cannot be admitted into heavenly communities as long as they are under the influence of falsity, for in that condition they would pollute those communities. They are detained therefore on the lower earth for a considerable length of time so as to get rid of those false assumptions. The length of time they stay there, long or short, depends on the nature of the falsity and of the life acquired from it, and on the extent to which those assumptions have been confirmed with them. Some there suffer quite severely, others not so. The experiences they undergo are called vastations, which receive considerable mention in the Word. When the period of vastation is completed they are carried into heaven and as newcomers receive instruction in the truths of faith, which is given by the angels who receive them.