The Great Gospel of John
Volume 8
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
The Lord and His adversaries
- Chapter 33 -
The location of the spirit world.
Agrippa said: "Lord and Master, this is now clear to me, as it certainly will also be for the others, and I thank you for this light. But I still like to make a small remark, and that is if You would like to indicate where in relation to the Earth, the actual spirit world is located. Although there was a little spark in Your words about it, but I still could not completely make it out. If You think it is right, I would like to ask You to give me also in this respect that which is suitable."
2
I said: "Even though the whole spirit world - as I already have explained a few times - has absolutely no longer anything to do with space and time of this material judged and therefore not free world, the space as an exterior cover is finally still the carrier of all Heavens and all spirit worlds, because they cannot be found in any other way somewhere outside the endless space of creation. And so, in order to speak clearly and for you understandably, there also must be spatial places in which the spirit worlds are as it were, located at a certain place, although the place of the area is as little interesting to namely a perfect spirit as now this Mount of Olives is interesting to you when you want to imagine Rome or Athens, because for the spirit in that form, there is no certain space nor measured time.
3
But concerning the so-called individual being of a spirit: he can still not - as little as I can - be completely outside of space and time. And so, also the souls of those who have died in this material world are in a certain local space, although, namely the souls whose life is not completed, have no notion of it, just as little as when you are in a dream in which you are perhaps really feeling comfortable and even active now in this and then again in another region, without changing a hair's breadth the material-spatial place where you as personal individual are present.
4
However, you want to know from Me the actual, as it were fixed place where especially the souls are living who after the death of their body did not complete their life, and I also want to tell you this faithfully. So listen to Me and understand well what I will tell you about this.
5
When a man during his life has felt a special love for this or that place on the material world, then as a deceased soul he will also stay in that place, often for many hundreds of years, and he also will inwardly become aware of it by way of the spiritual correspondences, although it still will be not clear.
6
Thus, wherever on this Earth you have a place, you also will have a place for the world of the spirits, which in fact is of course not a material but a spiritual place, for it exists out of a certain fantasy of the spirits by means of their will.
7
So you can travel all around through such a world that is created by you. However, as individual you will stay invariably on one and the same material place.
8
Let us take for instance a person who has a great desire to know better the moon, the sun and also the stars. When the soul of such a person lies off his body, his material place is already there where his love has drawn him towards it and placed him in it. There he soon will come in contact with the spirits of these worlds and will think very actively and deeply about the ideas and studies that are common there.
9
However, if a soul is already here completely permeated with the love for God, then his material-individual place of existence in the vicinity of the Earth as nurturing place for the education of the children of God will not change, but through My intervention he will nevertheless - according to the continuous needs of his intelligence and the by that resulting happiness - be able to travel throughout the whole of infinity without having to change a hair's breadth the material-spatial place of his individual being, just like Me also am not changing in the spirit and am still present everywhere at the same time in the whole of infinity.
10
More and profounder things I cannot tell you about this now. However, when you will be reborn in the spirit, more things will come clear to you as bright as the sun. Did you understand this well now?"
11
Then Agrippa and also many others said: "Lord and Master, we thank You for this explanation that was very necessary for all of us because we all have seen and observed possessed people of all kind and nature on several occasions and we did not know how to explain this matter other than that such unfortunates were possessed by real devils and therefore were also their prey when they were not able to free themselves.
12
With such an idea of possession it was necessary for us, either to consider the possessed one as a very great sinner - being cursed by God already in this world - or we secretly had to shrug our shoulders about God's love and highest justice, of which we really could not be blamed. And more in particular when we could convince ourselves in every respect about the blameless conduct of the possessed one as well as the devoutness of his parents. But now this case has assumed a totally new aspect, and we are extremely happy that through Your grace we were able to put matters straight."
13
I said: "Well now, this is good. If you also have clarity in this, then we still have 4 hours until the morning to still discuss a lot of things with one another and to make things clear. If for someone among you there is still something that is not clear, let him ask aloud, then he will receive a good and clear light, for I want to give you to understand the mystery of God's Kingdom."