§512 our third state 305
by outward appearance into believing that they were not evil. Often they
are led around in a large circuit, and their intrinsic quality is displayed
to good spirits everywhere. The good spirits turn away as soon as they
see them; and in the same way that the good spirits turn away, the evil
spirits who are being led around turn away too, facing the hellish com-
munity that is their destination. I forbear to mention other modes of
separation; there are many of them.
Our Third State after Death, Which Is a State
of Instruction for People Who Are Entering Heaven
512
O
UR third state after death, or the third state of our spirits, is one of
instruction. This state is for people who are entering heaven andbecoming angels, but not for people who are entering hell, because these
latter cannot be taught. As a result, their second state is also their third, and
ends in their turning straight toward their own love and therefore toward
the hellish community that is engaged in a love like their own. Once this
has happened, their intentions and thinking fl ow from that love; and since
it is a hellish love, they intend only what is evil and think only what is false.
These are their pleasures because they are matters of their love. Further, this
results in their rejecting every bit of good and truth they had previously
adopted because they thought it might serve their love as a means to an end.
[ 2 ] Good people, though, are brought from the second state into a
third, which is a state of preparation for heaven by means of instruction.
In fact, no one can be prepared for heaven except by knowing at fi rst hand
what is good and true, and therefore only by being taught. This is because
without being taught, no one can know what spiritual good and truth are
and what the evil and falsity that oppose them are. We can know in the
world what civil and moral good and truth are, what is called fair and hon-
est, because there are civil laws there that teach what is fair, and there are
also social situations where we learn to live by moral laws, which all deal
with what is honest and equitable. Spiritual good and truth, however, are
not learned from the world but from heaven. We can in fact know them
from the Word and from the church’s doctrine from the Word, but this
still cannot fl ow into life unless we are in heaven in regard to the deeper