232 HEAVEN and HELL §404
a. A unity consists of different constituents and derives its form and quality from them, and it
derives its perfection from the way they harmonize and agree: 457 , 3241 , 8003. There is an infi nite
variety, and nothing is ever the same as anything else: 7236 , 9002. It is the same in the heavens:
5744 [ 3744 ], 4005 , 7236 , 7833 , 7836 , 9002. Consequently all the communities in the heavens and
all the individual angels in a community differ from each other, because they are engaged in dif-
ferent virtues and services: 690 , 3241 , 3519 , 3804 , 3986 , 4067 , 4149 , 4263 , 7236 , 7833 , 3986. The
Lord’s divine love arranges them all in a heavenly form and unites them as though they were a
single individual: 457 , 3986 , 5598.was the freest life of all because it stemmed from a deep affection and was
invariably accompanied by an indescribable pleasure.405 Almost all the people who arrive in the other life think that hell is
the same for everyone and that heaven is the same for everyone, when
in fact there are infi nite variations and differences in each. Hell is never
the same for any two people, nor is heaven. In the same way, no one of
us, no spirit, and no angel is ever exactly like any other, even facially.
When I even thought about two identical or equal beings, the angels
were aghast. They said that every unity is formed by a harmonious agree-
ment of many constituents and that the nature of the unity depends on
the nature of the agreement. This is how every community of heaven
forms a unity and how all the communities form a single heaven, which
is accomplished solely by the Lord, by means of love.a
Useful activities in the heavens occur in similar variety and diversity.
The function of one individual is never exactly the same as that of any
other, so the delight of one is never the same as another’s. Not only that,
the delights of each function are countless, and these countless delights are
equally varied, yet they are united in a design that enables them to focus on
each other as do the functions of the individual members and organs and
viscera in the human body; or even more, like the functions of every vessel
and fi ber in those members and organs and viscera. These are all intercon-
nected in such a way that they focus on what they can contribute to the
other and therefore to all, with all mindful of the individual members.
They act as one because of this regard for the whole and for the individual.406 I once talked with some spirits who had just arrived from the world
about the state of eternal life. I emphasized the fact that it is important
to know who the lord of a kingdom is, what the government is like, and
what the forms of government are. It is the same when people are visit-
ing a foreign country in this world. Nothing is more critical for them
than to know who the king is and what his character is, what the govern-
ment is like, and a great many more details about the nation. How much
more important must this be in the kingdom where they are going to
live forever! They should realize, then, that it is the Lord who governs