PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Until there are no animals or plants left.
TINNY: Human ignorance could not only destroy us with war, but could also destroy us by creating an imbalance in the harmony of nature.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: The human race certainly has a lot to learn.
TINNY: And we must learn it quickly or it will be too late.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Didn't you tell me earlier that you had once hugged a tree?
TINNY: I did say that. It might sound funny but I don't think it should. Trees are very highly developed beings and they're beautiful too. Some of them are hundreds of feet tall and live for thousands of years. It saddens me to think that billions of trees have been killed unnecessarily. Many people in the world seldom get to walk among the trees and experience their majestic personality. They are missing a lot. Trees are such gentle giants.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Are trees the only plants you like?
TINNY: Not at all. While trees have their stately beauty, it is perhaps the flowers that among all things in nature are the most exquisitely beautiful. Not only are most plants beautiful and provide oxygen, but they do so many other valuable things to help maintain the harmony of nature. I often wish human beings could be such good citizens of our planet as plants.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Few people would consider plants to be citizens of our world.
TINNY: That also is due to the egocentric nature of the human species. Plants and animals are as much citizens of our planet as we humans are. If we were to treat them as fellow citizens we would all get along much better.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Every person has a responsibility to be a good citizen don't they?
TINNY: Yes, every person has a responsibility to be a good citizen of our planet and so does every animal and every plant. Most animals and plants live up to that responsibility far better than we human beings.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What is a good citizen?
TINNY: At the human level there is no difference between being a good citizen and being a good person. Any being who lives in harmony with the natural order is good. This harmony manifests itself through a full complementary participation with all other developing material forms to reach the highest level of progression possible. This includes both the progression of the individual and the progression of all other material beings.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Could you be more specific about how a good citizen would be?
TINNY: At the human level a good citizen would act in a loving and caring manner to themselves and to all other beings. They would work for the creation of a clean, healthy, beautiful world. They would work for the general betterment of society. They would work to acquire as much knowledge as possible and work for the spread of all knowledge to every member of society. All this and much more.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: It is heartening that you said people should act in a loving and caring manner to themselves, not just to others.
TINNY: That is extremely important. Our physical bodies each provide a home for and manifest the growing seed of spiritual consciousness. It would be well for us to treat the physical body as a temple. We should respect our bodies and keep them clean and healthy. The way we treat ourselves has a lot to do with how we treat others. Just as we should never bring harm to others we should never bring harm upon ourselves.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Would you tell me how we should treat our bodies?
TINNY: I'd rather tell you how I treat my own body.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: That would be fine.
TINNY: My goal is for my physical body to be in as good health as possible. I want it to be active and strong.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Why is this so important?
TINNY: I want to have a body that will enable me to participate as long and as fully as possible on the material plane so I may reach the limits of my potential. I want to be able to fulfill my purpose, which is to progress toward perfection in every aspect.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Do you expect to achieve that perfection?
TINNY: I don't really think much about achieving it, I'm too involved in all the small steps along the path to that perfection. Those steps offer such inner satisfaction that attaining the final goal assumes no immediate importance.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Don't you desire perfection in every aspect?
TINNY: When that perfect state is reached it will be the ultimate ecstasy; but it is not mine at present. I try not to desire that which I don't yet have, but rather I try to appreciate what I do have to the fullest. Even the smallest movement in my progression toward perfection brings a taste of the nectar of that perfected state of existence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What do you do to keep your body healthy and strong?
TINNY: I exercise, eat healthy food, I get enough rest. I think good thoughts about my body.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Does it matter what thoughts you have about your body?
TINNY: That is a very important part of health. The physical body must feel loved and cared for to blossom in fullest health. There must be a harmony of mind and body to allow the body's natural health to prevail. It is the natural state of the physical body to be in good health. Negative mental or physical conditions can prevent this natural state of good health from being maintained. Not only do I think loving and caring thoughts toward my body but I will my body to reject harmful influences and maintain its natural healthy state. The body has mechanisms to fight all negative influences; these physical mechanisms to be most effective must work in a harmonious, complementary relationship with the mind.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Can the mind will the body to resist or overcome illness?
TINNY: The mind and body can work together to resist and overcome illness to a degree far beyond any present expectations.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: To keep your body healthy and strong you said you exercise. What kind of exercise do you do?
TINNY: I don't do any exercises. My exercises come from active work and active play. It doesn't seem necessary to make exercise a separate part of my life, it is already available to me in my natural living.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What about people who have jobs that only involve mental activity and no physical activity?
TINNY: No one should have such a job. It is important to exercise both body and mind during the natural process of life. It is good for the body and mind to engage in both physical and mental play.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Should work and play always be kept separate?
TINNY: When the world is right there will be no difference between work and play. Our work will be fun and our play will be productive.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: To keep your body healthy and strong you said you get enough rest. Do you sleep for many hours each night?
TINNY: No, actually I only sleep five or six hours each night.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Don't you need more sleep than that?
TINNY: I don't, perhaps some might. There is individual variation in all things. I do know, though, there are a lot of reasons why some people sleep many hours each night and they don't all have to do with physical health. My waking life is so full of exciting things and I enjoy all the things I do so much that if I were to sleep any more than my body truly required for health I would feel I was wasting my time.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Is sleep a waste of time?
TINNY: All things have a good and bad component. Maximise the positive and minimise the negative. Sleeping to rejuvenate the body is part of the good component of sleep. Sleeping because of boredom, laziness, to escape from an unhappy existence, or for merely for the pleasurable experience is part of the negative component of sleep.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Do you think it would be possible to get by on less than five or six hours of sleep each night and still be alert and healthy?
TINNY: I think so. When I get older I'm going to experiment with my sleeping patterns and see what is best for me.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: You sound like a scientist.
TINNY: Sometimes I find it helpful to look at my life as a scientist, sometimes from other points of view.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: To keep your body healthy and strong you said you eat healthy food. Are there unhealthy foods?
TINNY: There are many things that cause harm to the body. Some foods cause harm, some drinks cause harm, and various other things people put into their bodies can also cause harm.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What do you mean by causing harm to the body?
TINNY: There are two main kinds of harm caused by what is taken into the body. One kind of harm is caused by direct physical damage and the other is caused by taking away the body's ability to maintain its natural harmony and health. Some foods, drinks, and other substances aid the body to maintain health and strength, while some foods, drinks, and other substances destroy the body's natural health and strength.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Is it hard to know what is right for the body and what is wrong for it?
TINNY: There is a lot to know about nutrition and it is all valuable knowledge. It is knowledge that everyone should have.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Would you ever eat anything that wasn't good for your body?
TINNY: No, never.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What if it tasted good?
TINNY: I like healthy food that tastes good. Unhealthy food that tastes good has no attraction to me. I don't seek pleasure for itself; I enjoy pleasure only when it comes naturally from right living.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Would you ever drink anything that wasn't good for your body?
TINNY: No, never.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Many millions of people drink alcohol. Is alcohol harmful to the body?
TINNY: Alcohol can cause great harm to the body and through destroying the body, can destroy the mind.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Why then do so many people consume large amounts of alcohol?
TINNY: Partly through wrong social influence and partly because of physical sensations, often considered pleasurable, which come from drinking alcohol.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What are these wrong social pressures?
TINNY: There are many. For example many young people wrongly see drinking alcohol as a symbol of independence and maturity. This places a great deal of pressure on young people to drink to prove themselves. Another wrong influence is the widespread belief that it is necessary to drink alcohol to have a good time. Also our society has reached such a stage of sickness that to do the right thing is often frowned upon and even ridiculed. To show disdain for positive values and behaviour has become a commonplace attitude. Sometimes to refuse alcohol is looked upon as being socially inappropriate.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: The world is very mixed up at this point in human history.
TINNY: I believe common sense will soon prevail.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: I would imagine you would not be attracted to the pleasurable sensations of drinking alcohol just as you were not attracted to the pleasurable sensation of harmful foods.
TINNY: That's right. Just as I don't seek pleasure in food I don't seek pleasure in drink. I only eat and drink those things which provide the necessary requirements for a strong and healthy body.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Would you be able to resist the social influences? Would you be able to say no to an alcoholic drink in front of your friends if they were all drinking?
TINNY: It would be no problem at all for me to say no to alcohol, regardless of the circumstance. I direct my life by my inner free-will based on what I know to be right. I wouldn't ever be tempted to act against what I knew was right because of any social pressures.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Have you ever tasted any alcoholic drink?
TINNY: No, never.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Don't you think you might some day take just one drink to see what you might be missing?
TINNY: Probably not. What I am missing by not drinking alcohol are the poisons which would damage my body. I will never mind forgoing that damage, and as I said, the pleasurable sensation, if there really is one, means nothing to me. I seek to transcend the desire for physical pleasure not to experience it. Unless it became known that alcohol was useful for the advancement toward perfection I would have no desire to ever taste it.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Is alcohol the only harmful drink commonly used?
TINNY: There are other common drinks that also contain harmful substances, none so harmful though as alcohol.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What about drugs? Many millions of people in the world take drugs of various sorts. Some of these drugs are supposed to aid the body maintain health, and other drugs are taken for the physical or mental experience.
TINNY: It is my preference to take no drugs at all. Neither as medicines nor for the experiences they bring. If I live right in body and mind I would seldom be in an unhealthy state which would require medication. And as I seek no sort of pleasure for itself alone the various drugs used for that purpose have no attraction.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Would you ever take any drugs as medication?
TINNY: I would, but only under circumstances where I had no other choice to maintain my life and health.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Have any such circumstances ever arisen in your life so far?
TINNY: No. I have never yet needed to take a drug of any sort.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Have you ever had any illnesses?
TINNY: A few, but a healthy body and mind can recover from any illness. If I had relied on drugs to heal myself I would be taking that responsibility away from my body and mind. Once that responsibility is given up the ability is soon lost. I want to be as independent of outside influences as possible. Even to be healed by drugs restricts the exercise of free-will. One of the characteristics of perfected being is good health. This perfect health would be self-maintained with no external assistance. It is perfection which is my goal.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: The main usage of drugs other than for medication is for the physical and mental experience, for the pleasurable sensation. How do you feel about that?
TINNY: All things that are sought for the pleasure of the experience are wrong in that they bind us to the material plane and therefore inhibit our progression toward perfection.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Some of these drugs which are taken for the experience have been used for thousands of year for religious purposes. It has been claimed they enable the user to reach an enlightened state, to become aware of the true nature of reality, and to commune with existence beyond the material plane. Would this make the use of these drugs all right?
TINNY: If those claims were true and if there were no other way to attain those benefits then it would be right to use those drugs for that purpose. I'm not sure whether those claims are true, although I am open to the possibility. I feel quite sure, though, that reaching an enlightened state, becoming aware of the true nature of reality, and communing with existence beyond the natural plane are all possible without the use of any drugs. If drugs are used as an aid to achieve this spiritual state then the freedom to make the journey by self alone is lost. I choose to make that journey by my unassisted conscious being. That is the natural way to fulfill human potential.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: One last question about drugs. What do you think about tobacco?
TINNY: Tobacco is perhaps the least reasonable of all drugs. An unparalleled victory for wrong social influence and material greed.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: I think that answers my question.
TINNY: Wrong foods, wrong drinks, alcohol, tobacco and other drugs kill many millions of people each year. They cause severe illness and unhappiness to many, many millions more. We will never have a right world while such problems exist. We will never achieve our human destiny unless we can throw off this awful burden.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: If people ate and drank only those things which their bodies required and didn't use alcohol, drugs, or tobacco there would be few unhealthy people in the world.
TINNY: If all those things were combined with a physically and mentally active life virtually all present health problems would disappear.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What do you think about health care?
TINNY: Health care is experiencing the same sickness that permeates all aspects of human society. The present system of health care is misdirected. The emphasis has focused exclusively on the body and has ignored the mind. There is virtually no attempt by the medical profession to assist those who are treated in re-establishing an inner harmony of body and mind. Illness is treated as something separate from the holistic entity of body and mind. Doctors tend to over treat with the vast number of drugs now available.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What do you mean by over treat?
TINNY: Even in those cases where a drug is necessary to help bring the body back to health the treatment should always be the smallest dosage of the mildest drug. This is seldom the case.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Isn't modern technology in medical treatment able to do amazing things?
TINNY: A healthy body and mind in a balanced state can also do amazing things. I have nothing against technology. In fact, technology is a natural part of existence at the human level, but all things can be used wrongly. Much medical technology would be unnecessary in a right world. Doctors, hospitals, medical technology, and drug manufacturers have become big business and high finance. The prestige and material rewards which come from the practice of medicine are pushing the practice of medicine in wrong directions. We need a new kind of healer. One who is beyond the desire for material gain. One who is an enlightened being, knowing how best to assist those who are ill. One who would make use of each individual's natural self-healing abilities. All treatment should be done in a comfortable caring atmosphere. Those requiring treatment should be fully participating partners at every stage of the healing process. Healers should not be aloof from those being treated, but should enter an empathic relationship with them.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What you are describing doesn't sound like most doctors in the world at present.
TINNY: All things about our present society must undergo great changes if we are to survive and progress. Doctors of the future will not be like doctors today.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Will natural healing be the way of the future?
TINNY: It will, but it will be different than what are called the natural therapies at present.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How will natural healing of the future be different?
TINNY: There will be a merging of the vast medical knowledge and technology of modern medicine with the natural healing and folk remedies of the past. The two schools of treatment will merge into a complementary whole that will have success through a natural healing process that far surpasses anything either method has ever achieved.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Will doctors, hospitals, and medical technology make great changes?
TINNY: Doctors, hospitals, and medical technology will be so different from how they are at present they will be almost unrecognisable.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Should health care be as separate from the rest of our lives as it is at present?
TINNY: All that exists should be one harmonious holistic system. Health care should be part of every facet of human society. How we live, how we think, how we relate to others all affect our health. We can think ourselves to sickness or we can think ourselves to health. We can, in the way we relate to others, influence them toward sickness or toward health. We need an environment that nurtures health, not one that breeds sickness. In many and varied ways our present environment brings about physical and mental sickness. Health care that is not fully included in all aspects of our social and physical environment will never achieve great success.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Are there any physical or mental illnesses that cannot be eliminated or cured by a healthy social and physical environment, and natural healing?
TINNY: Few, if any.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: The world you see in the future keeps sounding better and better. I wonder if it can really be that good, and if it could be that good why people don't just give up the old ways which are so destructive to health, happiness, and even survival and rush headlong into this beautiful future.
TINNY: Everyday more and more people come to know these truths and turn from the old life to begin the new. The few shall become many and the many shall become all.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: At times it appears the human race is constantly getting worse in every way rather than better. The movement of humanity at present seems swiftly headed for disaster. Do you really see signs of sanity in this increasingly mad world?
TINNY: All that exists on the material plane goes through cycles. As one set of conditions predominate they tend to generate, house, and nurture the seed of their opposite, which will grow large and bury the old. As human society becomes more evil it sets the conditions that generate seeds of goodness. This growing goodness if given time to blossom will overcome the evil.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Does this mean that in the future as good becomes predominant that the cyclic nature of material existence will once again generate the seed of evil within the world of goodness?
TINNY: It has meant that, yes.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Then what future does the human race have if condemned to recurring predominant evil. Won't this eventually bring an end to the human species?
TINNY: The cycles of material existence are not simple. I can say this about our future without going into the nature of cycles; it is within the potential of the human race to achieve a world of goodness, never again to experience a predominance of evil.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Let me ask one question about the cycles of material existence.
TINNY: All right.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Does the nature of the cycles vary depending on the stage of progression that has been reached on the path to perfection?
TINNY: It does. The nature of the cycles change in every characteristic as material existence approaches perfection. It is for this reason I say the cycles are not simple. To consider the nature of cycles to be simple will lead one from truth.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Are there cycles beyond the material plane?
TINNY: Cycles are linked to time. When a flow of time is not experienced no cycles are experienced.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Is our destiny determined by these cycles?
TINNY: You were only going to ask one question about the cycles of material existence, but now you have asked three.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: This will be the last. I know you have reasons for not wanting to go too far into the nature of cycles.
TINNY: You're right; I don't want to say too much about the nature of cycles. Much of my reason is due to the limits of my knowledge in this area. I try not to mislead through ignorance. Anyway to answer your last question; no, our destiny is not determined by the cycles of material existence. It is our destiny which determines the nature of the cycles.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What do you think about reincarnation?
TINNY: This isn't another way of asking a question about cycles is it?
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Couldn't all questions be ways of asking questions about cycles?
TINNY: Yes, they could. Anyway, I think the most commonly held belief of reincarnation, that upon death the soul moves on to inhabit another earthly body, is in error.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: So you don't believe in reincarnation?
TINNY: Yes, I do believe in reincarnation, but not in that way. I believe that the soul, which I think of as the spiritual aspect of being, does arise in new life after death, but not to inhabit another earthly body. Our conscious being, separate from the physical body, continues its progression through perhaps innumerable higher stages on the path to perfection in every aspect.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Are you sure of this?
TINNY: I believe my answer to be the truth of highest probability. In some instances the probability of truth is so high as to represent virtual certainty. Reincarnation is not one of those instances.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Why are you less sure of the truth about reincarnation than about other matters?
TINNY: Because there is a lot of conflicting information about reincarnation and it is hard to judge how much credence should be given to this evidence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: The question of reincarnation is very closely related to the question of whether death is the end of our existence or does some part of us, often called soul or spirit, continue on.
TINNY: Sometimes the question is, "do we go to heaven when we die?" It is true, all of these are various ways of asking for an answer to one of the most important, long standing questions in human history.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: If you had to answer the question, does the conscious essence of human life continue to exist after the death of the physical body, with a yes or no answer, what would you say?
TINNY: Yes.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: How certain are you of the truth of that answer?
TINNY: Virtually totally certain. The probability of continued existence of the conscious essence after death of the physical body is extremely high.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: From your answer about reincarnation I gather while you may be virtually certain that there is a continued existence after the death of the physical body, the exact circumstances of that existence are much less certain.
TINNY: That's right. I'm sure it happens, but I'm not so sure exactly how it happens.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Can you tell me how you can be so certain that the conscious essence of human life continues after the death of the physical body?
TINNY: It has to do with the nature of human consciousness. Consciousness is manifested by patterned energy exchanges within the physical structure of the brain. All information transmitted is done through the medium of light, the exchange of photons of electromagnetic energy. Photons have a transcendental quality. They exist beyond the limits of the material plane, unbounded by time or space. It is this timeless quality beyond the material plane that allows human consciousness to exist after the physical body dies. The physical aspect of human life is bound by the laws of the material plane; the conscious aspect of human life exists beyond the laws of the material plane.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: I have never heard such an answer given to the question of what happens to the human essence after death. I can see why you say the probability of continued existence is so very high. Your answer is very logical and scientifically based.
TINNY: That is the true nature of existence according to the new world view.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: This knowledge brings to mind a whole range of further questions. First, though, I'd like to briefly restate some of the earlier information you have given me which allows you to come to this conclusion. I want to be sure I understood you correctly.
TINNY: That's good; I'd like to hear what my words meant to you.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Before this physical universe existed there was God, or as you say, absolute and perfect being. One of the characteristics of this perfect being is expression of its own nature. Perfect being expresses its nature through the creation of material existence, a physical universe. This occurs by the manifestation of light which imparts the perfect characteristics of God to less than perfect physical matter. This beginning light gave rise to sub-atomic particles which followed the natural laws of God's expressive process and combined into increasingly complex arrangements. The various major stages in this developmental process which began with light are sub-atomic particles, atoms, molecules, biological life, and human beings. Each of these stages manifested in increasing degrees the characteristics of the creative parent, perfected being. Light brings the essential characteristics from beyond the material plane to the physical existence. Light imbues the sub-atomic particles with a tiny spark of consciousness. Each new developmental level expresses a greater degree of consciousness as the sub-atomic particles organise together in increasingly complex arrangements. When the human level is reached this consciousness manifests the self-reflective quality which includes symbolic thought, language, and contemplation of self. It is at this point of human development that consciousness can be considered as being expressed in the image of the creative parent. Until that human level is achieved natural law externally determines the path developing physical existence must take. After that human level is reached further progress toward the perfect expression of all characteristics in maturity must take place according to the inner direction of our free-will.
TINNY: Yes, that's what I said. You were able to explain my words well, very briefly and clearly.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Now for some questions which arise from these truths. First, if consciousness is an essential aspect of every physical form, from the sub-atomic particle to human beings, wouldn't it be true that the conscious entity of each of these forms would continue to exist beyond the material plane after the destruction or death of that particular form?
TINNY: That's correct.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: So human beings are not the only ones whose existence continues beyond physical death.
TINNY: The essence of every physical form that comes into being exists eternally beyond the material plane.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: So not only human beings but monkeys, dogs, birds, frogs, lizards, fish, worms, amoebae, flowers, trees, rocks, molecules, atoms, and sub-atomic particles will all have their conscious essence continued eternally beyond the physical existence.
TINNY: All of those physical forms and more have their essential nature which existed before time and continues beyond time. They are all eternal.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What makes the conscious essence of human life different from all these other physical forms if they all continue into eternity?
TINNY: The difference is self-realisation. Self-realisation is required to continue advancement beyond the level where progression is externally determined.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: More simply please.
TINNY: External control through force of physical law does not exist beyond the material plane, therefore any level of conscious development that has not progressed to the point where it has taken over responsibility for its own continued development through the exercise of free-will will not continue to progress beyond the material plane.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: That wasn't much simpler than the first explanation.
TINNY: All forms of physical existence below the human level will develop no further after death or destruction on the material plane. Human level consciousness can continue on toward perfection after being released from the material plane by physical death.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: That was quite clear. Does this mean that every human being will continue on after physical death and attain perfection in every aspect?
TINNY: No, I don't believe it means that. Perfection can only be attained through the exercise of free-will. Not all will choose to follow that path to perfection.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Wouldn't anyone be foolish not to accept perfection if it was within their potential to reach that state?
TINNY: It would indeed be foolish not to accept perfection when it is offered; but, that is not a decision to be made after physical death, it is a decision to be made during life. How many people in the world today have made the decision to live a life that is the path to perfection?
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Most in the world are then being foolish since they do not use their free-will to walk that perfect path.
TINNY: It would be the rare person who after choosing wrongly during this earthly life would then choose rightly after this earthly life.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: So it is possible to fail to choose the right path during life and to choose the right after death.
TINNY: Perhaps possible, but certainly unlikely. Anyone who believes they can live a wrong life now then choose perfection after death is in grave error. During life is the time to choose right over wrong, good over evil. That is the purpose of physical existence.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Wouldn't God be kind to those who had failed during physical existence and offer another chance?
TINNY: God is always kind. The door to perfect existence is never locked, but many will never choose to open that door.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: You said earlier that the purpose of life was to progress toward perfection in every aspect. By this did you mean that is the purpose of life in general or that this was the purpose of each individual's life.
TINNY: To progress toward perfect existence is the essential purpose of all physical form. It is both the general purpose of all envolving life and it is the purpose of every individual life.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Why is it so necessary at the human level to have committed to the right path before physical death? If it is possible as you say to make the decision after physical death, what is it that would keep the conscious aspect, which continues beyond the material plane, from then making the right decision after physical death?
TINNY: It is for the same reason that all forms of physical existence below the level of human consciousness cannot continue to progress after physical death. Since external influences do not impose their will beyond the material plane those physical forms that have not developed consciousness to the point of effectively possessing and utilising free-will cannot continue to progress. Continued progression beyond the material plane comes about only through the exercise of free-will. Those human beings who have not reached a state of enlightenment sufficient to allow the potential of their free-will to be manifested would be not much better off after physical death than the animals. Their free-will will not be miraculously transformed by physical death. The conscious development you die with is the conscious development you enter the realm beyond this material plane with. Since progression no longer takes place by external influence in that realm it is of extremely low probability that those beings who had never exercised their free-will to choose the path to perfection during physical life should choose to do so after physical death.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: So there are rewards in the afterlife for progression made during physical existence.
TINNY: It's not quite correct to call them rewards. The development of conscious being toward perfection is one ceaseless continuum. Any point on that continuum is the natural progression from the point immediately preceding it. Whatever point has been reached on the developmental continuum when physical death comes determines what the next step on the continuum will be. So what one receives after physical death is not reward, but is only the next natural stage on the continuum of developmental progression toward perfect existence. What we earn during earthly life is exactly what we receive in the afterlife. No more and no less.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Some people believe it is only through God's grace that anyone may enter heaven.
TINNY: Those are words of traditional religious language. I agree that they are true, but believe them to be often misunderstood. As you know I prefer the terms absolute existence or perfected being to the word God, I also prefer the term beyond the material plane to the word heaven. The misunderstanding is about what God's grace means. Some people interpret this as meaning that our individual progression and good works during physical life do not get us into heaven, but that it is only through God's grace, meaning God's favour or goodwill that we enter heaven. If this was true all physical existence would be without meaning.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Why would this take meaning from physical existence?
TINNY: If it was in accord with the natural order for beings to be created perfect then God would create perfect beings. It is in accord with the natural order that we must attain perfection through a physical progression as material beings developing the characteristics of godlike existence and completing the journey to perfection through the exercise of free-will. It would serve no purpose for this natural process to be terminated after a long and arduous journey, the attainment of perfection being then granted rather than earned.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: If you say this is true what do you mean when you agree that entry into heaven is only through God's grace?
TINNY: It is by the grace of God that the physical universe exists. It is by the grace of God that the nature of the physical existence creates beings possessed of consciousness and free-will. It is by God's grace that at the human level we have the potential to exercise our free-will to follow a path that will permit entry into heaven and allow us to mature into perfection in every aspect. It could be said that through the grace of God we are all freely given the key to heaven, but we must each still choose by the exercise of our free-will to use that key to open the door.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Do you mind using the words God and heaven?
TINNY: Not really, though I usually think in different terms; but, those words are convenient for those who still think in the language of traditional religious thought.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: Do you think those words will ever disappear from human language?
TINNY: As long as there is human language those fine words are likely to remain. Human language will some day cease to exist though.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: When will that be?
TINNY: When we are no longer human beings.
PHILOSOPHER-SCIENTIST: What will happen to the human species?
TINNY: If we don't become extinct through an act of self destruction we will continue to envolve, eventually progressing beyond the human level.
