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Conversations with Angels: What Swedenborg Heard in Heaven

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This is the first Swedenborg book I read and it introduced me to the whole fascinating world of his visions. I have read numerous books on angelic encounters, life after death, near death experiences, etc., but this book is truly unique. In this book, Swedenborg speaks about his experiences as he passes into the realms of heaven and encounters angels. He relates answers to questions he poses to the angels, things like:"Please teach me what happiness is." The angels respond, "Love in action gives a feeling of happiness. In heaven it acts with widsom, in hell with folly. Either way it makes its subect happy."

Unlike some books about channeling and similar processes, I had no trouble believing and understanding that the messages in this book were genuine. I felt comfortable with the fact that Swedenborg really spoke with higher realms and wasn't just creating this in his own mind.

If you're looking for an inspiring book to help you understand life on many levels, and are tired of the myriad NDE and angelic encounter books that abound, you'll enjoy this one!

By all accounts Swedenborg was both a high genius and, in his later years, psychic...focused on developing a world view that encompassed heaven and hell, angels etc. As such this book is a collection of many of his remarks about the afterlife and heaven and hell. It has a dated feel in the sense that Swedenborgs views are firmly those of someone writing over 200 years ago...and it is a puzzle how to reconcile them with more "modern" writers/travellers on the path. The charitable view would be that, if what Swedenborg says is somehow true, then it is also filtered through the mindset of someone of his era (just as must be true of someone of our own era). This "dated" aspect of his ideas greatly reduced their value for me...but some of his ideas (eg about how we create our own heavens and hells) cannot be found elsewhere.

This book is a compilation of Swedenborg's visits to Heavens. His incredible ability to converse with different angels, and unquenched thirst for truth paired with the mind and the skill of the top scientist of his time, gives us an opportunity to be a part of fascinating adventures and receive the truth of realms beyond the physical. This particular translation (from Latin) seems to be more accurate and easier to read than other published works of Emanuel Swedenborg. Lifting the Veil of Illusions: How to Identify and Heal the Influences of Unseen Forces

Is it virtually feasible to visit heaven prior to dying, and come back to earth alive and describe it? As Sarah Palin might say, "You betcha." Emanuel Swedenborg lived in the 1700's, a contemporary of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. His IQ was reportedly higher than Albert Einstein's. He had the uncanny ability of ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) and was allowed by God to visit and speak with thousands of angels in heaven for more than 27 years, without leaving the earth.

You may be amazed to know there are office-holders in heaven (although honest ones, unlike on earth); also teachers, so that every infant or child who died before completing school can learn what is needed. Teachers find a second career there.
Every spirit being in heaven has a house provided by God the Father, prepared for each according to his or her own merits.

There are small cottages, as well as stately mansions. All are furnished to assist their owners to feel at home. There are no cars, taxis or buses in heaven. Those who desire to visit someone simply concentrate on that person, and they meet instantly face to face. Food is not needed in heaven, as spirit bodies are supplied with energy directly from God the Father.

Marital love is fuller and more complete in heaven. Everyone achieves the perfect age for them--early twenties for most--regardless of their actual age at death. Women become lovelier, and men regain their full potency. No children are
born in heaven, so everyone enjoys romance without unexpected consequences. All former human disabilities are cured.

Every human being ever born continues to live today, including Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and billions of others. Some spirits remain in hell until they become pure in heart, while others live in the "spheres of purification" (purgatory) to correct their misguided thinking. The majority enjoy the happiness of unification with the Father and Son.

The greatest pleasure in heaven is to serve others, which results in the highest state of happiness. Angels are anxious to please, and are most joyful when others are happy too. Every good feeling is credited to God the Father, Who is perfect
in His goodness, love and mercy. Flowers and trees exist nowhere else in such beauty and bounty. The heavenly sun is
brighter at dawn than is the noonday sun on earth, while noon in heaven is so brilliantly lit as to defy description.

The age-old human joke may best describes heaven: "You and your bran muffins; we could have been here years ago."