No man, however, can easily comprehend this arcanum; but
it is clearly comprehended by the angels, because they are in the
light of heaven.
461. XLVIII. AFTER DEATH MAN IS POSSESSED OF EVERY SENSE, AND OF ALL
THE MEMORY, THOUGHT, AND AFFECTION, THAT HE HAD IN THE WORLD, LEAVING
NOTHING BEHIND EXCEPT HIS EARTHLY BODY.
It has been proved to me by manifold experience that when man passes
from the natural world into the spiritual, as he does when he dies,
he carries with him all his possessions, that is, everything that
belongs to him as a man, except his earthly body. For when man enters
the spiritual world or the life after death, he is in a body as he
was in the world, with no apparent difference, since he neither sees
nor feels any difference. But his body is then spiritual, and thus
separated or purified from all that is earthly; and when what is
spiritual touches or sees what is spiritual, it is just the same as
when what is natural touches or sees what is natural. So when a man
has become a spirit he does not know otherwise than that he is in the
same body that he had in the world and thus does not know that he has
died.
Pages:
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555