HH 498 - the first state after the death of the body

HH 498
This first state of a person after death
 continues with some for days,
with some for months,
and with some for a year;
but seldom with any one beyond a year;
for a shorter or longer time with each one
(is) according to the agreement or disagreement
of his interiors with his exteriors.
For with everyone the exteriors and interior
must make one and correspond.
In the spiritual world no one is permitted
to think and will in one way and speak and act in another.
Everyone there must be an image of his own affection
or his own love,
and therefore such as he is inwardly
such he must be outwardly;
and for this reason a spirit's exteriors
are first disclosed and reduced to order
that they may serve the interiors as a corresponding plane.