Heaven and Hell - Swedenborg Foundation

HEAVEN AND HELL 342
and in consequence his faith and his love, like his
understanding and his will, are conjoined in him.
425. To the extent, therefore, that the truths of the
understanding and the goods of the will are conjoined, that is,
to the extent that a man wills truths and does them from his
will, he has heaven in himself, since the conjunction of good
and truth, as just said, is heaven. And on the other hand, just
to the extent that the falsities of the understanding and the
evils of the will are conjoined man has hell in himself, since the
conjunction of falsity and evil is hell. But so long as the truths
of the understanding and the goods of the will are not
conjoined man is in an intermediate state. At the present time
nearly everyone is in such a state that he has some knowledge
of truths, and from his knowledge and understanding gives
some thought to them, and conforms to them either much or
little or not at all, or acts contrary to them from a love of evil
and consequent false belief. In order, therefore, that man may
have in him either heaven or hell, he is first brought after death
into the world of spirits, and there with those who are to be
raised up into heaven good and truth are conjoined, and with
those who are to be cast down into hell evil and falsity are
conjoined. For neither in heaven nor in hell is anyone
permitted to have a divided mind, that is, to understand one
thing and to will another; but everyone must understand what
he wills, and will what he understands. Therefore in heaven he
who wills good understands truth, while in hell he who wills
evil understands falsity. So in the intermediate state the falsities
that the good have are put away, and truths that agree and
harmonize with their good are given them; while the truths
that the evil have are put away, and falsities that agree and
harmonize with their evil are given them. This shows what the
world of spirits is.
426. In the world of spirits there are vast numbers, because
the first meeting of all is there, and all are there explored and
prepared. The time of their stay in that world is not fixed;
some merely enter it, and are soon either taken into heaven or