246 A Programmer’s Guide to the Mind
For example, compare our modern
Western society with the world of two
hundred years ago. We still eat, sleep,
talk, send messages, travel, learn,
build, and even go to the bathroom.
All of these Mercy experiences have
remained unchanged. However, the
Perceiver connections between these
experiences have altered vastly. We
now speak over long distances with
the help of a telephone, but we still
talk. We enter an airplane and soar
like a bird, but we still travel. We
build incredible skyscrapers using massive machines, but we still build.
We have flush toilets with fans to remove odors and sewer systems which
process our waste, but we still go to the bathroom. We buy instant food
packages and stick them in the microwave oven, but we still eat.
Ah, says the religious person. In the real heaven, that will all be
different because we will have completely new bodies. We will no longer
need to eat, sleep, travel, learn, and build, and as for toilets, they will never
again be mentioned, for they will not be required. Let us suppose that all of
this is true and that in some way we get to exchange our old physical
containers for new and improved versions. Let us also assume that with all
of these physical necessities out of the way, it will be possible to find
something to occupy our attention. Unfortunately, what remains intact and
unchanged is the childish me of irrationalism and chaos along with the
Perceiver footing of mesmerized mud, and this is sufficient to turn any
„heaven‟ back into „hell.‟
But, continues the religious person, not only will we have new bodies,
but we will also have new minds. In heaven, me will be perfect. No impure
thought will ever cross our imaginations. Again, let us pretend that this is
possible. Let us also assume that after having removed all thoughts which
directly or indirectly concern impurity, something will be left to think
about, and me will not end up completely devoid of content. What would
happen if both our physical bodies and our emotional desires were changed
at the same time?
This would mean altering both the me of the physical body and the me
of Mercy identification simultaneously, because changing my physical
body would change the me of the physical body and changing my desires
would alter the me of Mercy identification. Let us examine this possibility.