263. The state of the natural mind is altogether different, however, when the spiritual mind has been opened. The natural mind is then disposed to obey the spiritual mind and is subordinated to it. For the spiritual mind acts from above or from within upon the natural mind and removes those elements in it which oppose, and adapts to itself those elements which operate in harmony with it. The overwhelming reaction is thus progressively eliminated. [2] It should be known that in the greatest and least constituents of the universe-both animate and inanimate-one finds the reciprocal relation of action and reaction. It is what holds all things in equilibrium. This equilibrium is suspended when the action is greater than the reaction, and vice versa. It is the same with the natural and spiritual minds. When the natural mind is prompted by the delights of its love and the gratifications of its thought, which in themselves are evil and false, then the reaction of the natural mind removes those elements which belong to the spiritual mind and bars the door to them to keep them from entering, causing the action to come from such things as accord with its reaction. The result is an action and reaction of the natural mind which is opposed to the action and reaction of the spiritual mind. This in turn causes a closing of the spiritual mind, like the twisting of a spiral into the opposite direction. [3] On the other hand, if the spiritual mind is opened, then the action and reaction of the natural mind are reversed. For the spiritual mind acts from above or from within and at the same time through those elements in the natural mind which have been disposed from within or from without to obey it, and it twists into the opposite direction the spiral in which the natural mind acts and reacts. That is because the natural mind is from birth in a state of opposition to matters belonging to the spiritual mind, a state it acquires by heredity from parents, as people know. [4] Of such a nature is the change of state called reformation and regeneration. The state of the natural mind before reformation may be likened to a spiral twisting or curving downward, while after reformation it may be likened to a spiral twisting or curving upward. Consequently a person before reformation looks downward to hell, but after reformation upward to heaven.