For neither in
heaven nor in hell is any one 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 are cast
down into hell; some remain only a few weeks, some several years, but
not more than thirty. These differences in the time they remain
depend on the correspondence or lack of correspondence of man's
interiors with his exteriors. How man is led in that world from one
state into another and prepared shall now be told.
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