36 HEAVEN and HELL §66
within each member and outer or inner organ, with some within and
some outside. This is the reason for their confusion about heaven.67 We have presented these statements about heaven as the universal
human because without them as preface there can be no comprehension
whatever of the things about heaven that are to follow. No clear concept
of heaven can be gained, either, no clear concept of the union of the
Lord with heaven, of the union of heaven with us on earth, of the infl ow
of the spiritual world into the natural world, and none whatever of cor-
respondence, all of which must be discussed in sequence in the pages that
now follow. This material has been presented fi rst, then, to shed light on
these matters.
Each Community in the Heavens
Refl ects a Single Individual
68
S
EVERAL times I have been allowed to see that each community of
heaven refl ects a single individual and is in the likeness of a human
being as well. There was one community that was infi ltrated by a num-
ber of spirits who knew how to assume the guise of angels of light. They
were hypocrites. As they were being set apart by some angels, I observed
that the whole community fi rst looked like something cloudy, then grad-
ually took on a human form, though still a cloudy one, and fi nally
appeared in the light as a person. The individuals who were in that per-
son and made it up were the ones who participated in the benevolence of
that community. The others, who were not in the person and did not
make it up, were the hypocrites. These latter were cast out, while the for-
mer ones were retained. This is how the separation was accomplished.
Hypocrites are people who speak well and even behave well, but who
are focused on themselves in specifi cs. They talk like angels about the
Lord and heaven and love and heavenly life and they also behave well, so
that their character seems to be in accord with their speech. However,
they are thinking differently. They do not believe anything or will well to
anyone but themselves. Any good they do is done in their own interests.