§505 our second state 299
their intention, such a unity that they scarcely seem to be thinking, only
intending. It is almost the same when they talk, except that there is some
fear that the thoughts of their intention might appear naked, since their
civic life in the world had planted this fear in their intention.
All of us, without exception, are brought into this state after death 504
because it is the proper state of our spirits. The earlier state was char-
acteristic of our spirit when we were in public, and that is not its very
own state. As for the latter state, which is the state of the outer concerns
that we fi nd ourselves in immediately after death (as described in the
previous chapter), there are many reasons to conclude that it is not the
proper state of our spirits. For example, spirits not only think but even
talk from their own affection, since that is the source of their language,
as is implied in what was presented in the chapter on the language of
angels (§§ 234 – 245 ). We thought the same way in the world when we
were turned inward, because at such times we did not think on the basis
of words that we physically uttered, but simply visualized things, and
could think more things in a minute than we could say in half an hour.
We can also see that this state of relatively outward concerns is not the
proper state of ourselves or our spirits from the fact that when we are in
the company of others in the world, we keep what we say in line with
the laws of moral and civic life. Then our deeper thinking restrains our
outer thinking the way one person restrains another, to make sure that
the other does not cross the bounds of propriety and decency. It is also
evidenced by the fact that when we do think privately, we think about
what we will say and do in order to please people and to gain friendship,
good will, and gratitude by devious means—that is, differently than if we
were acting from our actual intent.
We can see from all this that the state of more inward concerns that
spirits are led into is their proper state, which means that it was also the
proper state of the individuals when they were living in the world.
When spirits are in this state of their deeper concerns, then it is 505
obvious what kind of people they really were in the world. They actu-
ally behave in accord with their own nature. People who were inwardly
devoted to the good in the world then behave sanely and wisely, more
wisely than when they were living in the world, in fact, because they have
been freed from any connection with the body and therefore with the
earthly things that darken and cover with a kind of cloud.
In contrast, people who were focused on evil in the world then
behave foolishly and insanely, more insanely than when they were in the
world, in fact, because they are in freedom and are no longer constrained.