This book attempts to provide a brief but comprehensive survey of the essentials of spiritual life. By "spiritual" Swedenborg does not mean "other-worldly" or removed from the here and now, but rather those qualities that are associated with true self fulfillment and happiness.

Basically this is a religious work that encompasses the philosophy of the "good life" as revealed in the Old and New Testaments, yet it is not denominational or parochial, but rather universal. Chapters Include:How Spiritual Life Is Acquired - Goods Of Charity - Shunning Evils - Cleansing The Inside - What Religion Consists In - The First Commandment - The Second Commandment - The Third Commandment - The Fourth Commandment - The Fifth Commandment - The Sixth Commandment - The Seventh Commandment - The Eighth Commandment - The Ninth And Tenth Commandments - The Commandments In General - Goods And Truths And Their Opposites - The First Kind Of Profanation - The Second Kind Of Profanation - The Third Kind Of Profanation - The Fourth And Fifth Kinds Of Profanation - The Holiness Of The Word - The Lord Is The Word - The Lord's Words Spirit And Life - Influx And Correspondence - The Three Senses Of The Word - Conjunction By The Word - The Sense Of The Letter.