31. It should be known, however, that after death, man is not a natural but a spiritual man; and yet that to himself he seems exactly the same as before, and so much so that he knows no other than that he is still in the natural world; for he has alike body, a like face, a like speech and like senses--because a like affection and thought, or a like will and understanding. Actually indeed, he is not the same because he is a spiritual and hence an interior man; but the difference does not appear to him because he cannot compare his state with his previous natural state, having put off the latter and being in the former. Therefore, I have often heard them say that they know no other than that they are in the former world, with the sole distinction that they no longer see those whom they had left in that world, but see those who have departed from that world, that is, have died. The reason why they now see the latter and not the former, is because they are not natural but spiritual or substantial men, and the spiritual or substantial man sees the spiritual or substantial man, as the natural or material man sees the natural or material man. The spiritual man does not see the natural man, on account of the distinction between the substantial and the material, which is as the distinction between the prior and the posterior; and the prior, being in itself purer, cannot appear to the posterior which in itself is grosser; nor can the posterior, being grosser, appear to the prior which in itself is purer. Consequently, an angel cannot appear to a man of this world, nor a man of this world to an angel. The reason why man after death is a spiritual or substantial man, is because the latter lay inwardly concealed within the natural or material man. To him, the natural was as a garment or as exuviae, by the casting off of which he comes forth a spiritual or substantial, thus a purer, more interior, and more perfect man. Though the spiritual man does not appear to the natural, yet that he is a perfect man, is clearly manifest from the fact that the Lord was seen by the Apostles after the resurrection; that He appeared and presently did not appear; and yet, both when seen and when not seen, He was a man like unto Himself. They also said that when they saw Him their eyes were opened.