4. HEAVEN AND HELL [1] Says hereupon Philopold: “Lord, I and certainly we all thank You from the bottom of our hearts for this fantastic and most superb clarification about the teaching of the old sages. Yes, now the matter it is evident and clear after sounding like total nonsense before. Sure enough I shall understand and perceive all this only fully when I shall be free of all elements of matter. [2] But for now it is enough to see how one can be according to the fullest truth totally outside the notions of time and space while at the same time being within time and space. There is only one more thing I would like to learn from You, namely, the whereabouts of both heaven and the loathsome hell, of which I have also heard and read much. It says: These will ascend to heaven, and those will be cast down into hell. Where and what is the ‘above’, and where and what the extremely deplorable ‘below’?” [3] Says the Lord: “Look, on this chair on which you are sitting, heaven and hell can be firmly side by side here on earth. Yet in the realm of spirit they are separated by an immense chasm. – And furthermore: [4] Here, where I am now with you, is the uppermost heaven, meaning ‘above’, and here also the deepest and worst hell, meaning ‘below’. [5] The material whereabouts do not matter, but only the spiritual which, as you have seen, have nothing at all in common with the material whereabouts, for in the realm of spirit only the inner state of life determines the true and genuine distance. There the material-spatial cannot ever be of any significance. To make this even more comprehensible for you, I will give you a few examples. [6] Imagine two people sitting here on one and the same chair. One is a pious sage whose bright spirit, full of light, is initiated into very many secrets about the effects of the divine forces in nature. The other is a hardened criminal who rests his limbs on the same chair or on the same bench and let’s himself be served, like an honest man, with wine and bread to restore his strength, so that he can all the more easily perpetrate some evil deed once he is again outdoors. How closely together the two men are in a material-spatial sense and how infinitely far apart in spirit! [7] On the other hand, assuming that our sage were sitting with us here on this bench and at the same time, somewhere a thousand leagues from here, another, these two like sages would be very far apart materially-spatially, yet in the realm of spirit they would nevertheless be very close together, as is literally the case in My Kingdom. n[8] From all this it again becomes quite clear that for every good man heaven will be exactly where he is at a given moment, and all the good and pure of his kind will immediately be very close to him. It is not a case of: 'Behold, here or there, perhaps beyond all the stars, is heaven and perhaps somewhere deep down below the earth is hell.' All this does not depend on this time and on this space and, being without any outer pomp like some idle temple ceremony, but within the innermost being of man himself.
[9] Therefore, as man's innermost is constituted, so will be the world in the beyond which he has created for himself out of himself and in and on which he will then live in either a good or a bad way. [10] In My Kingdom, the world of all those who are in the truth and, therefore, in the true light out of My word through the living faith and through their actions according to it, will also be light and truth in a forever increasing measure. Yet the world of those who base their life on falsehood – and thereby on evil – will be more and more like their innermost. For, just as a very good man keeps getting better all the time, an evil man keeps getting worse and thereby, as far as his inner state is concerned, more distant from all that is good. [11] Look at those men whose pride fills them more and more with a burning lust for power. After they have miserably enslaved many millions of people through their tyranny, they gather still greater hordes of warriors, invade the realms of other kings and conquer them, taking their land, people and treasures. Once they have in this way conquered half a world and brought it great misery, they fancy in their pride to be equal with God, indeed even raise themselves above Him, let themselves be venerated and threaten anyone with the most dire punishment who would dare to worship another god only as a czar and bring sacrifices to him alone. We have a striking example of this in the Babylonian King Ne bouch kadne zcar (‘There is no other God but I, the king’) and now in the high priests, Pharisees and scribes who also fancy being the only gods, persecute Me and will one day even be allowed to kill this My body, but only for 3 days. For then I shall rise again out of My very own power, and only then will their judgment and their end come over them. [12] From this you can all see clearly that he who is evil keeps ecoming more evil and he who is good, better, but with a difference, namely, that there is a limit set for the evil one when it is said: ‘Only this far and not by a hair’s breadth further!’ For then a great judgment must invariably follow, through which the evil ones can be brought again to their senses and one or the other might perhaps mend his ways. [13] Just as it is in this world, so it is in hell, with the only difference that there – in the general realm of spirits – the good, humble, patient and those trusting in God are for all eternity segregated, so that without exception only the evil ones in hell play their false and evil yet completely futile game. Futile because their light is falsehood, deceit and a totally futile illusion like the dream of a drunken rich glutton and reveler. (GGJ Book 14, chap. 4) [10] Look, as Heaven is everywhere where good people are who are beloved by Me and pleasing to Me, so also is Hell everywhere where you can find despisers of God, enemies of allthat is good and true, liars, cheaters, evil thieves, robbers, murderers, misers, people who are lusting for power and eager for worldly honor, and malicious, loveless fornicators and adulterers. [11] If you want to know what Hell looks like, you only have to look at the mind, the evil love and the evil will of a person in whom Hell prevails. By that you will easily realize what it looks like in Hell which is actually a work of such person. [12] In Hell everyone wants to be the first, be the highest and most unlimited ruler and commander, have the highest power and rulership, possess everything, and everyone has to obey him and work for him for a very little salary. [13] It is obvious that less truth can be found there to enlighten such malicious nonsense and very evil blindness and stupidity than in this world where an imperious tyrant will by an enlightened truth also not repent of the injustice that he cruelly caused to people, so that he would abandon his golden throne, would go and do real penance, realize his injustice and would try to make up as much as possible for the injustice that he caused to so many people. [14] Just try to convert such brute, then you will soon be convinced how he will come to meet you. (GGJ Book 23, chap. 92) [1] IF even the clearest light of the truth cannot give any result, then with what other means can we convert such people without imprisoning their free will with almightiness, which cannot be done in any other way than by the complete removal of the totally wrong, malicious self-love from such person? And taking away that love from a person means the same as to entirely kill and destroy the whole person. But this is not in line with the eternal and unchangeable order, because everything – from the smallest to the largest, whether good or bad according to your human reason – can just as little be destroyed as God Himself, the initial eternal power and might and His love and wisdom from which everything originates. [2] Transitions from imperfection to perfection are very well possible because – talking in a human manner – God wants by that to give free independence to His great thoughts and ideas. Those transitions however are not destructions but only apparent destructions in the most outer, material sphere. Only the material forms, in which the spiritual life force is temporarily slumbering and hidden, and that are as if separated and isolated from the universal, divine, spiritual Being, can be destroyed, but their inner being never. [3] Therefore, for what their appearance is concerned, it must be possible for these outer forms to be destroyed, because otherwise spiritual perfection – that means the development of the free, independent individuality of a being – would be completely impossible. Because for you men, who are now also in a last material form, the visible and perceptible creation is also nothing else but the temporarily tied up thoughts and ideas that I – if necessary and based on My love and wisdom – can change how and when I want. [4] However, I am not doing this by some whim in order to give Myself in a human manner a certain imperious pleasure, but I am doing this out of eternal necessity according to My eternal wise order of love to give My thoughts and ideas a most complete and freest and individual, real, true independence. If there would be another way – but there is no other way, nor can there be any other way, which you cannot completely realize or understand now – then I certainly would have preferred it instead of this way that you consider as being too long and in a certain way difficult. But the way that you know is and remains the only possible, and therefore also the only true and best way, because only along this way can My goals be completely achieved. [5] Now if people on this Earth do not want to submit to this order of Mine and want to create for themselves, based on their reason and free will, another order of which they think that it is better and wiser – which often happens here and in the beyond – they must blame themselves when they come into ever worse instead of better conditions of life and existence. And when they finally went so much astray and are exhausted, they, unfortunately, cannot be helped in any other way except by the feeling of all imaginable tormenting situations which they prepared for themselves. And such feelings last until a soul turns into himself and realizes more and more that, because of his resistance against My order, his condition can by necessity never improve but only become worse. [6] Look, My friend Pellagius, this kind of persistent resistance against My order out of free will, is the actual Hell with all its darkness, evil, wickedness and indescribable torments.(GGJ Book 23, chap. 93) 95. HOW DIFFICULT IT IS FOR SOULS WHO WENT ASTRAY TO REPENT IN THE BEYOND Also the souls in the big world of the beyond are in time purified by all kinds of sufferings, experiences and also pain that they only caused to themselves. Purified because they begin to feel a real aversion to their wrong way of acting, and abhor them more and more deeply in themselves. So they completely change their love, their will, and with that also their thinking and striving. They turn into themselves as into their true spirit of life, and in this manner they gradually pass over, as if step by step, to a clearer and happier existence. [2] However, in the big world of the beyond it is more difficult and more troublesome than in this world, and with a lot of souls who sank too deep in their life that was against My order there will be needed a for you unimaginable long time before they will find in themselves the way to My eternal and unchanging order. [3] On this Earth, every person stands on firm ground, and he has a great number of good and bad ways before him and all kinds of advisors, leaders and teachers around him. With only a little examination he can easily choose for all that is good. So he also can change his love and his will, and in this way he can – acting according to My order that becomes more and more clearto him – become more and more perfected. But in the other life, the soul of a person has only himself and is the creator of his own world, just like in a dream. [4] So in such world there can also be no other ways than the one which a soul, out of his love, will and fantasy, has made for himself. [5] If his love and will are, according to My order, good and just – even if it is only for the greatest part – such soul will soon, after a few bitter experiences that he probably made on some way that is contrary to My order, of course choose earlier and easier for the way of the order. Then he will continue to walk on it, and so he will pass over from his existence of fantasy and dream into a true and real existence, where, in the increasing bright light, everything will become more and more understandable to him – things that before could never come into his mind. [6] And such soul, who already became purer because he improved his life, will then of course make a quick and easy progress. But on the other hand, a soul who lives in a world of dreams and evil fantasies – which originated from his own love and his own will, both contrary to the order, and where often hardly half way within the order exists or can exist – will have it very difficult on his way, a way which is hardly noticeably and which passes only half within the order. After a long time he will have it very difficult to choose a way in himself that passes completely within the order and that leads to the true light of life, and to raise himself entirely within My order on that way on which he still will have to fight against a lot of obstacles. [7] Then how will a soul fare in the beyond who has not even half or a quarter of a way within My order, and who will thus also not be able to find one? Look, this is already the actual Hell. [8] Such soul will pass on all his numberless evil ways of his dark world of dreams and fantasies and will even want to exalt himself to rule over Me. [9] But since he not only will accomplish nothing by that, but will only lose more and more, he also becomes more and more angry, furious, and in an ever greater rage, more revengeful, and by that also more and more dark and powerless. [10] Now just imagine the numberless, disorderly evil ways in the foolish fantasy world of such soul. When will he have experienced them all until he comes to a point where he will realize a little that all his attempts, strivings and efforts are useless and foolish, and awaken a certain desire and activity in him to in the future rather obey instead of wanting to rule over everything himself? (GGJ Book 23, chap. 95) 96. THE FUTILE ATTEMPT TO EDUCATE A TYRANT [1] JUST consider the first mentioned imperious tyrant whose thinking and striving was only focused on conquering the whole world to make all other rulers his lowliest slaves and to let himself be honored and worshipped by all the nations on Earth as a God who commands everything. Gather a mighty army, attack his countries, take away all his cities and castles, finally imprison him and say then to him: ‘Look, proud and very vain fool of a king, you wanted to conquer the whole world and make slaves of all the other rulers of nations, now you are in my power and you must conform to my will. But I do not want to be hard against you. I want to give you mercy as justice if you will humiliate yourself in your mind and will become a man who wants to do good to all his fellowmen and if you want to make up for all the injustice that you have often and unprecedented committed against them. Although I will take you into custody and watch all the decisions you will take that reflect your thoughts and strivings. If I notice that you have completelychanged, I have the power and the good will to bring you back to your kingdom and put you on the throne as a true ruler – this unto salvation, but never more unto disaster of the people who suffered under your tyranny.’ [2] And look now further on, My friend Pellagius. On this, your prisoner will promise you to do everything whatever you will ask him to do, for in return you promised to give him back his kingdom and his throne. But do you think that his mind will become entirely different? Apparently yes, but in reality certainly not, for if you will put him again on the throne, all his strivings will be secretly directed to take revenge on you. Because to humiliate an arrogant and proud king from the highest glittering throne to far below the level of beggary means the same as making a perfect devil out of him who can almost not be helped anymore in the kingdom of eternal darkness. [3] If such person is completely filled with the greatest anger and irreconcilable revengefulness, whether he is a king or a slave, he cannot be converted anymore, nor can he be improved. It is best to suffer those kinds of people with all patience and to admonish them at some opportunity, as I did Myself by the mouth of My many prophets. [4] If they do not care – as usual – a few sensitive chastisements should come over them, by which it will at least become half clear to them that they caused it to themselves. If despite of that, they do not change, they should be wiped off from the Earth, which is of course always only My decision because I am the only One who can most clearly see when the measure of abominations of such person is full. [5] If you will deeply think about what I said and showed you now about Hell, it will become clear to you what Hell actually is, and how and where it is. [6] As a good person – living virtuously and piously according to God’s will – carries Heaven as the Kingdom of God indestructibly in himself, so also, the definite adversary of God’s order carries Hell indestructibly in himself, for this is his love and his unwavering will, and thus also his life. Did you understand this well now?” (GGJ Book 23, chap.96) [4] I said: “Do not be a bit worried about that, or not at all. The evil spirits, who are called devils, are finally also returning into themselves, but there they will only find evil things, which is actually their love. Out of this, they also will create places for themselves that completely correspond to their inner character, and they gradually separate themselves into certain groups according to the degree of their evilness, and try to harm everyone. If they detect similar characters among the people on this Earth they soon find ways to approach them in almost the same manner as your father approached you. They then firstly take possession of the flesh and fill it with everything that one can only call bad and evil. [5] They proceed softly in the beginning and try to pull the soul into the flesh. If this is done, the soul is already as good as lost for everything that is right, clean, good and true. And I Myself came in the flesh into this world to effectively put an end to this old mischief for the sake of all those who believe in Me and who will live and act according to My teaching. Look, I alone am the Lord over everything in the world and over everything in the realm of the spirits. Believe that, then you will live.” (GGJ Book 24, chap. 58) [16] The disciple of John said: “Lord and Master, I have to be satisfied with this, for I very clearly can see that this is exactly so and as it will also be so in the future, as You have very clearly revealed to us all. [17] Oh, who can change it when people misuse their free will so much and prefer to be led around by the leash of the devil and be deceived instead of following up Your advice to raise them towards all freedom and give them the eternal life in Your Kingdom. [18] I only hope that You, o Lord and Master, will still keep a lot of means in store to also – in the course of the times of times – call from the crabs men into existence who will recognize You. For You did not let them come into this world to let them remain crabs for eternity for what their soul is concerned?” [19] I said: “That which is reserved to the long-lasting times of the future lies hidden in the decree of My love and wisdom. It will however still take long times before the light of the last of the suns will be extinguished. Men will see many stars in the sky go out and see again others taking their place, but the actual crabs will therefore not have lost much of their ugly appearance. But to Me 1,000 earthly years are like one moment. That which cannot be accomplished in one long time, can maybe be accomplished in a next or in 1,000 periods of time. [20] The one who wants to be helped will also be helped soon. But the one, who wants to persist in his stubbornness, let him persist as long as he wants. And if he wants to persist in it eternally, he is also free to do that. For also the internal material body of the Earth, as well as the endless many other celestial bodies, need its food to subsist, and it will take a terrible long time before one atom of the interior of the Earth will reach its surface again. [21] Although you do not understand what I want to say with this: the lost son is already on his way back, but almost endlessly long times will still be necessary before he will entirely come back into the old house of the Father. [22] On a small scale, every sinner is like a lost son, and over his true come back there will be greater joy than over 99 righteous ones who do not need penance. [23] But the word that I speak to you is not only for this Earth but in a corresponding manner for the whole of infinity, for My words are not human words but God’s words, and they are also heard by the numberless myriads of angels and are carried from the one end of My endless many creations to the other, and they will have their effect. [24] This you also do not understand, but when you will be reborn in the spirit, you also will be able to look into the endless depths of My mercy. Be satisfied for the moment with what you heard now, for in this world I will not often say similar things anymore as those which I told you now. So keep it with and in yourselves till the time of your inner enlightenment after which you also will be able to speak with people who are understanding and enlightened about all the things you heard from Me. But keep it to yourselves for those who are not understanding, and do not throw My pearls like feed for the pigs.” (GGJ Book 24, chap. 70)
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