§492 our first state 293
especially marriage love, the love of what is fair, honest, good, and true,
the love of information and insights, the love of intelligence and wisdom,
and the rest. The things that fl ow from these loves like streams from
their spring are pleasures that not only last but are raised to a higher level
when they are changed from natural pleasures into spiritual ones.
Our First State after Death
491
T
HERE are three states that we pass through after death before we
arrive in either heaven or hell. The fi rst state is one of more outwardconcerns, the second is one of more inward concerns, and the third is
one of preparation. We go through these states in the world of spirits.
Some people, however, do not go through these states but are either
raised into heaven or cast into hell immediately after their death. The
people immediately raised into heaven are ones who have been regener-
ated and thus prepared for heaven in this world. People who have been
regenerated and prepared to this extent need only to slough off their nat-
ural uncleanness along with their bodies and are immediately taken into
heaven by angels. I have seen people taken up an hour after their death.
On the other hand, people who have been profoundly malicious but
have outwardly worn a guise of goodness, people who have therefore
fi lled their malice with guile and used goodness as a means of deception
are cast directly into hell. I have seen people like this cast into hell imme-
diately after their death. One of the most deceitful went head fi rst and
feet last; for others it is different.
There are also people who are sent off into caves right after their death
and in this way are segregated from people in the world of spirits. They
are alternately brought out and sent back in. These are people who have
treated their neighbors maliciously under the pretext of civic behavior.
There are few such people, though, compared to the number of peo-
ple who are kept in the world of spirits and prepared there for either
heaven or hell according to the divine plan.
As to the fi rst state, the state of more outward concerns, we arrive in 492
this immediately after our death. Everyone has more outward and more