Heaven and Hell (Harley) n. 504

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504. All men without exception are let into this state after death, because it is their spirit's own state. The former state is such as the man was, in regard to his spirit when in company; and that is not his own state. That this state, namely, the state of the exteriors into which man first comes after death (as shown in the preceding section) is not his own state, can be confirmed by many things, for example, that spirits not only think but also speak from their affection, since their speech is from their affection (as can be confirmed from the things said and shown in the section on the speech of angels, n. 234-245). It was in this way that man had thought while in the world when he was thinking within himself, for at such times his thought was not from the speech of his body, but he saw the things, and in a minute of time saw more than he could afterwards utter in half an hour. Again, that the state of the exteriors is not man's own state or the state of his spirit is evident from the fact that when he is in company in the world he then speaks in accord with the laws of moral and civil life, and at such times interior thought rules the exterior thought, as one person rules another, to keep him from transgressing the limits of what is seemly and honourable. It is evident also from the fact that when a man thinks within himself, he thinks how he must speak and act in order to please and to secure friendship, goodwill, and favour, and this in extraneous ways, that is, otherwise than he would do if he acted in accordance with his own will. From these things it is clear that the state of the interiors into which the spirit is let, is his own state, and was his own state when he was living in the world as a man.


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