alive in the former world. In fact, they no longer have a physical body;
they now have an essential body, which seems to their senses to be physi-
cal, but it is not.
[ 2 ] ( 2 ) After several days they realize they are in a world where various
different communities have been established. That world is called the
world of spirits.It is midway between heaven and hell. All the communities
there, which are beyond number, are arranged in an amazing way accord-
ing to good or evil earthly desires. The communities that are arranged
according to good earthly desires communicate with heaven; the commu-
nities arranged according to evil earthly desires communicate with hell.
[ 3 ] ( 3 ) The new spirits (or people who are no longer physical) are
taken around and transferred to various different communities—both
good and evil communities—and examined to see whether things that
are good and true elicit a response in them, or things that are evil and
false, and exactly what that response is.
[ 4 ] ( 4 ) If they respond to things that are good and true, they are led
away from evil communities and brought into good ones, again into vari-
ous different communities until they come into one that answers to their
own earthly desire. There they enjoy the goodness that corresponds to
that desire. This process lasts until they take off their earthly desire and
put on a spiritual one. At that point they are raised up into heaven.
This is what happens to people who lived a life of goodwill in the
world and a resulting life of faith—people who believed in the Lord and
abstained from evil because it is sinful.
[ 5 ] ( 5 ) On the other hand, if people used reasoning to reinforce their
own false convictions and beliefs—especially if they used the Word for
such reinforcement—and on that basis lived a merely earthly, purely evil
life (for falsities go with evils, and evils stick to falsities), they desire evil and
falsity but not goodness or truth. Therefore they are led away from good
communities and brought into evil communities, again into various differ-
ent communities until they come to one that answers to their cravings.
[ 6 ] ( 6 ) Nevertheless, because they had outwardly pretended in the
world to have good desires, even though inside they had only evil desires, or
cravings, they are alternately put back into, and held in, their outer states.
The people who had been leaders of organizations in the world are
given leadership roles in communities in the world of spirits. They are put
in charge of larger or smaller areas depending on the breadth of the posi-
tions they had previously held. Because these people do not love truth or
justice, though, and are incapable of being enlightened to the point of
singke
(singke)
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