HH 493, 498 - The First State After Death

HH 493

The first state of a person after death
resembles his state in the world,
for then he is still in externals,
having a like face, like speech, and a like disposition,
thus a like moral and civil life;
and in consequence
he is made aware that he is not still in the world
only by giving attention to what he encounters,
and from his having been told
by the angels when he was resuscitated
that he had become a spirit.
Thus is one life continued into the other,
and death is merely transition.

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
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.