f his
outward nature and life; the second, that of his inward nature and
life; and the third, one of preparation. A man passes through these
states in the world of spirits.

The first state of a man after death is like his state in the world,
because he is then similarly in things outward. His appearance is
similar, and so are his speech, his mental habit, and his moral and
civil life. As a result he does not know but that he is still in the
world, unless he pays attention to things that meet his eye, and to
what the angels told him at his resuscitation, that now he is a
spirit. Thus one life is carried on into the other, and death is only
the transition.

--_Heaven and Hell, nn._ 491, 493

REVELATION OF THE INNER LIFE

After the first state is past, which is the state of the outward
nature and life, a spirit is admitted into the state of his inward
will and thought, in which, on being left to himself to think freely
and unchecked, he had been in the world. He slips unawares into this
state, just as he did in the world. When he is in this state, he is in
himself, and in his very life; for to think freely from the affection
properly one's own, is the very life of man, and is the man.

When a spirit is in the state of his inward nature and life, it
appears plainly what manner of man he was in the world; for then he
acts from his very self. A man who was inwardly in good in the world,
then acts rationally and wisely--more wisely, in fact, than he did in
the world; for he has been loosed from connection with the body, and
so with worldly things, which caused obscurity and, as it were,
interposed a cloud. But a man who was in evil in the world, then acts
foolishly and insanely--more insanely, in fact, than he did in the
world, for now he is in freedom and not coerced. For when he lived in
the world, he was sane in his outward life, for so he assumed the
appearance of a rational man. When, therefore, his outward life is
laid off, his insanities reveal themselves.

--_Heaven and Hell, nn._ 502, 505

INSTRUCTED FOR HEAVEN

The third state of a man after death is a state of instruction. This
is a state in the experience of those who enter heaven and become
angels.

Instruction in heaven differs from instruction on earth, in that
knowledge is not committed to memory, but to life; for the memory of
spirits is in their life, inasmuch as they receive and become imbued
with everything that agrees with their life, and