Spiritual Experiences (Buss) n. 5873

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5873. It was ascertained that those who are interiorly evil, want to turn aside and tarry in places under which are those who infest the good; for their interiors make one with the infesters, and their delight is to be together with them and to injure the good. This latter delight is ingrained in them wherefore, they perceive delight as soon as they are above infesters. Whence the delight is, they do not know; but it is the delight of inflicting injury. They had this craving for a long time, nor did they suffer themselves, except reluctantly, to be conducted along paths away from those [infesting spirits]. That they wish to remain in that part where they are sensible of the delight of doing mischief, underneath, has been proved to me by much experience. They perceived that I was annoyed by the evil; and, then, they always wanted to be above that place, and were compelled, by force, to retire from it. In a word, all now proceed by their own ways to their own societies: thus, it is not allowed to tarry and form to themselves any [semblance] of heaven, overhead.


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