Spacial View of Heaven

The afterlife, or the spiritual world, is made up of heaven, hell, and a world between the two called, “the world of spirits”. The world of spirits is where we first awaken in the afterlife, and it is here we undergo our final preparation for heaven or hell. Our minds are actually in the world of spirits right now, because we are spirits dwelling in these natural bodies, though we are not aware of that world. Karl Jung, who read Swedenborg extensively, calls this world the “collective unconsciousness” where all touch each other and affect each other on a spiritual level. The spiritual influences that manifest themselves to us in every waking moment of the day, that is, the impulses behind the thoughts and feelings we experience, are all from associations with that world. When we die we become conscious of this world of spirits, and dwell fully within it. As we become familiar and comfortable with this new world, we begin to gravitate to those who are most like us and with whom we find common companionship. Eventually we make our way to our eternal homes in heaven or hell, as we become, so to speak, refined or centered in what we truly wish to be to eternity. These three worlds are alluded to by Jesus in his parable of the rich man and Lazarus who end up, one in hell and the other in heaven, and we are told that “there is a great gulf fixed” between these two worlds (see Luke 16:26).

There are also different depths or levels to heaven and to hell, according to the depth of goodness or evil in each individual and collective societies. The purest and most loving angels are at a higher, more interior level of heaven than those of a lesser goodness of development of love and wisdom. Lower hells are reserved for the more diabolical and hurtful. And so Paul speaks of the “third heaven” (II Corinthians 12:2), and the old testament speaks of the “lowest hell” (Deuteronomy 32:22). We are situated in the spiritual world according to our relationship with God. If we have pushed God away from our lives, along with his love and blessings, we find ourselves dwelling far away from God’s manifest presence in the afterlife. We are never completely removed from God, in God’s mercy, but we can “go very low” to use a familiar phrase. Those who are close to God in heart and life live closer to God in heaven. This only makes sense. If you’re close to God, you’re close to God — in very reality in heaven.