Thought Control

The power of thought continues to be a hot topic. The fields of psychology, psychiatry, counseling, and hypnotism have been opened up and are being cultivated by a significant portion of the population. Brains are probed and studied extensively. The potential of mind over matter draws attention from all corners of world.

Mind forces exist. Thoughts can be very powerful. In the 20^th century, Carl Jung[1] classified three human psychic levels: (1) consciousness, (2) the personal unconscious, and (3) the collective unconscious.

In the 21^st century, cutting-edge technologies are used to control prosthetic limbs geared to respond to electrical commands from the brain down the spinal cord and then through peripheral nerves. But are these electrical commands reliable? Do they vary from one human mind to another? Do they point to many minds, some of which may be nefarious?

Even though the study of thought power has become sophisticated, we still don’t understand how to control our minds and bodies, whether we have real or artificial parts or not. We don’t grasp why the personal or collective unconscious can make us do things we wouldn’t normally do. Theories are considered based on studies showing that societal issues, from workplace rudeness to weight gain, are contagious.[2]

Mental health is important, but when looked for in the human mind, health feels precarious, almost imaginary. Human mind studies, philosophical and psychological loops can even create paranoia, making us scrutinize every single thought floating in the mental milieu.

When studying mind, we must learn the difference between human thoughts and divine thoughts. We must guard our self against any situation where human thoughts control our own, whether it’s through crowd thinking, brainwashing, peer pressure, superstition, hypnotism, mesmerism, magic, or necromancy, all based in the theory that mind is in matter.

The thoughts of human beings have nothing to do with divine Mind. Although some human thoughts are better than others, to give them power is—unconsciously and automatically—to give power to the evil thoughts also held in human minds. This despotism is but a phase of nothingness and is destroyed by spirituality.

Human knowledge is identified as that which comes from the belief that Mind is dividable or isolatable. The human mind experiences its own knowledge. Mind study becomes risky and suffering is prolonged when we wrongly give separate human minds power to control life, or the world. God is power.

God is Life, God is substance. God is Mind. Divine knowledge is identified as that which comes from the one Mind. It leads to goodness, unselfishness, forgiveness, humility, bravery. Divine knowledge follows the law of progress.

We must spiritually think for ourself, and image forth divine knowledge; otherwise, indifferent, self-destructive, and depressed behavior is believed to be our own thinking and it will be exhibited. We also need to encourage in others their right and responsibility to know and act on divine thoughts.

Don’t personify evil.

Divine knowledge exists, is in force, and has ultimate power. Divine thoughts are intelligent, fruitful, unified; they belong to us. As we escape from the claims of human mind, the whole human family is blessed and virtue is promoted in the community. But we can be duped again by the ignorant or malicious teachings that result in physical limitations or moral idiocy.

The mild forms of mortal thought control disappear and more aggressive features come to the fore. Threatening, terrorizing, and bigoted thoughts—created and harbored in human minds are weaving webs of more complicated and subtle crimes—provide a steady stream of fodder for human mind study.

To stay on guard against the mortal claims, we must acknowledge, study, and demonstrate thoughts of the one good Spirit. Spirituality must become the basis of our thought process.

Spiritual growth counters the temptation to either languish in states of indolence and apathy, or jump into extremist actions. We can discover that the human mind, even bulked together with many minds, is powerless before divine Mind.

The mental qualities of dishonesty, lethargy, revenge, malice, and arrogance will not heal the sick. If they appear to, it is temporary and leaves the case worse than before.

In divine Mind there is no human mortal mindedness, there is no transference of mortal memes and false teachings.

We must consider the motives behind mind study. What is motivating power? Is it money or modesty? Is it jealousy or justice? Is it lust or love? Is it fear or moral courage?

Life and being are of God, the source of true thoughts, passing from God to us. Evil has no reality in divine Mind.

The development of our mental powers must be done with God, Love. God has given us the rights of self-control, logic, and conscience. We are properly self-governed when guided and propelled by Truth and Love.

[1] Jung, Carl Gustav (1875-1961) Swiss psychiatrist and founder of the school of analytical psychology.

[2] http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2015-28930-001 accessed September 2015; http://www.loyolamedicine.org/news/new-evidence-link-between-teens-social-network-weight-gain-07112013, accessed September 2015

Advertisement

A mental scientific method

Human beings are naturally inquisitive. There will always be bodies of thinkers who want to discover truth. They can deflect confirmation bias—the tendency to look for and see only evidence that confirms what they already believe—and discover avenues of progress.

I became acquainted with a man who survived the Holocaust. He is well-adapted in the world and raised a strong, loving family that contributes to society in positive, just ways. The survivor lacks animosity.

I took this evidence and tried to reproduce it, following the scientific method.

Though not nearly resembling the Holocaust, I am under the control of outside forces. Laws of the land, the economy, and leaders of organizations I work for, all dictate in some degree what I have to do and how I live.

Instead of letting animosity build up, I concede to the control, while fighting in my mind for justice and love.

Sometimes I fall short of the ideal of the scientific method and don’t reproduce the same results of a well-adapted human being. I become anxious. This isn’t so much because the survivor isn’t transparent and may have anxiety also. It isn’t because I fill up with animosity.

It’s because the scientific method isn’t ideal. The method isn’t always reliable.

Therefore, I turn to what I refer to as a divine method. This method is purely mental and exposes all spiritual factors. I may not have animosity but I could have jealousy that makes me anxious and throws me off balance.

The mental method of reproducing good results only works when my ideal is truthful, empathic, and brave. Moral courage and wisdom are needed for me to love in a way that promotes constructive action at the right time.

When raising children, I could not speak to them all the same, or the results would be different. I prayed to know what to say, when.

I even talk to myself differently.

Some days I can eat a piece of chocolate. Some days I know I’m supposed to tell myself no chocolate. It’s a mental method of following divine thoughts of honesty. It produces more reliable, balanced results than measuring and eating chocolate.

Moving an Alzheimer’s patient

Instead of trying really hard to heal spiritually, I’ve learned to stop myself. I’ve decided that If God is healing, then God is healing all the time. Nonstop. I don’t make healing happen. I don’t need to look for something to heal.

Instead of praying for healing, I pray to see God healing. It is right in front of me, part of my experience.

As the cloud’s shadow passes over me when out in the woods walking, or as an idea enlightens my thought, healing results.

Months ago, I’d planned to help husband/wife friends move from Arizona to Washington State. The husband has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and was in a wheelchair. The wife told me, “Cheryl, he responds to you without confusion.”

The morning before I needed to fly to Arizona, I got sick. Food would not stay down. My husband told me, “This healing is here because you are the one for the job.”

We were staying at my husband’s sister’s house and she nursed me with mother love. By that afternoon, an hour before my scheduled flight, I was well enough to pack. My brother-in-law took me to the airport early and we both agreed that if I felt I should cancel my traveling that he’d return to pick me up at the airport and take me back to their house for rest. “I don’t mind one bit,” he said. His trust in God, through his Latter Day Saints faith, held a purity I could feel.

Healing continued and I traveled to Arizona. The husband and wife were ready and waiting to travel and move to Washington. The flight went without a flaw.

I was grateful that the husband did respond to me. Though the airports were hectic and loud, he was calm and hopeful.

I pondered “spiritual Alzheimer’s,” living in the past with confidence, yet easily angered when asked to do more than what the limited perspective expects.

Then I read from Matthew 4:1, 8-10:

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry…[Then[ the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ⁹ And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Though I believe that in spiritual reality there is no devil, there is a devil to contend with humanly. The devil of Alzheimer’s will be cast out and until then we can prove it step by step. The devil was rebuked during our travels and we did worship God, Love, resulting in a gracious experience. We hope to continue.

Prostituting ourselves

Although prostitution is ranked rather low on the scale of suitable employment, there are a couple of times in the Bible when prostitutes themselves ranked high in the work of God.

In the book Joshua, the prostitute, Rahab, saved the spies sent to Jericho to scout out the land before the children of Israel moved in.

I’ve never entered the trade of prostitution in its common definition, however a friend enlightened me to a broader meaning. Prostitution doesn’t only pertain to sex. It can be anytime someone sells their abilities, talents, or time for an unworthy purpose.

This broader meaning causes me to step back and ask myself as a freelance writer, Do I ever sell an article I wrote for an unworthy purpose?

Do I ever sell my time for an unworthy purpose?

Do I sell my talent to speak before a crowd for a selfish or shameful cause?

I don’t particularly want to prostitute myself. I don’t want to spread lame opinions. I don’t want to try to convert someone to a certain lifestyle even if I think its godly.

I want to use my skills for worthy things…like Rahab the harlot did.

“Then [Rahab] let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. ¹⁶ And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” ¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. ¹⁸ Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. ¹⁹ Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. ²⁰ But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” ²¹ And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.” Joshua 2:15-21, ESV

You are appreciated

The Vision of Revisions

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. (Prov. 3:5, The Message)

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (Prov. 3:5, KJV)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; don’t rely on your own intelligence. (Prov. 3:5 Common English Bible)

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. (Prov. 3:5, Revised Standard Version)

Cling steadfastly to God and His idea, if the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you. Let nothing but His likeness abide in you. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of Being—as it eternally is—can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Being is not.(Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy’s 1894 copyrighted Edition)

When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious—as Life eternally is—can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. (Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy’s 1908 copyrighted Edition)

When the curse of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and Spirit’s idea. Allow nothing but Soul’s likeness to prevail in your thought. Do not let fear or doubt eclipse your clear sense and calm trust in Truth. (21^st Century Science and Health, copyrighted 2006)

Discarding the Bible and Science and Health

If we are to be defined by our religion, then I suppose I have am in line with Christian Science. But, if you were to tell me the religion Christian Science was going to be renamed to Christian Research, or to Humane Science, my reaction would be on the level of a comfortable, “Ah.”

There are a couple of reasons for this casual response, the first and most obvious being that a title is only a title. Words are only words. I won’t truly know what Christian Science means until I read the ideas in the books meant to teach it, The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy.

In Sunday School, I was taught Christian Science etiquette, how to properly mark, read, and quote from the Bible and Science and Health. Certain authorized words were to be revered. I was given a smaller set of books, the travel edition, to take with me when I went on a trip. Undeniably, I could see Christian Science offered some distinguishing elements, but I’d ask, “Is it the words that make Christian Science?” Answers I received were not satisfying.

Even if I had felt any warm feelings toward certain words, I still don’t know if I ever would have caught on to that elusive thing called, “the spirit of Christian Science” by reading words or books. When others were somberly repeating words from the King James Version of the Bible, or Mrs. Eddy’s words, images of robots would come to mind. Try as I might, I couldn’t seem to feel the sacredness of words written centuries ago.

But I did experience Christian Science. When praying or being prayed for, I was healed of sicknesses. I remember a broken shoulder bone healing quickly. I’d practice talking with God as Love and Truth, a concept learned through the Bible and Science and Health, with a childlike simplicity that genuinely revealed the presence of a higher power, truly able and willing to guide me to wellbeing and purpose. But the constant referral to hand-picked words would sometimes grate on my nerves.

After leaving for college, I did what any college student would do, and conducted a little scientific experiment. I threw the Bible and Science and Health in the garbage. Nothing happened. I did not lose my ability to think humanely or logically. God did not disappear. I even still felt something invigorating and inclusive. I eventually pulled the books out of the garbage, but it was after I discovered for myself that I could experience inspiration and healing without the explicit use of certain words.

Of course, as I got older, I understood that there is no magic about the words in the Bible and Science and Health, but that the rules governing the reverence and repetition of its words are intended to convey respect and devotion. After college, I started reading modern versions of the Bible and revised Science and Health to make its ideas practical in the 21^st Century.

I’d like to think that we could change the words Christian Science to something Christian Research or Humane Science without putting the things we value at any great risk. Granted the King James Version and Mrs. Eddy’s version of Science and Health still entertain my eyes and mind, along with newer versions, but I remind myself if, as meaningful and as important as these symbols are, I don’t’ want to let them get in the way of the things that really matter.

A Christian Scientist versus Christian Science

Are you a Christian Scientist?

When I am asked that question, more often than not, I answer, “I study Christian Science.” A Christian Scientist is not the same as Christian Science. They are as different as a computer programmer and programming. One is a title while the other is an activity. A Christian Scientist is a person who may or may not digress into a conventional lifestyle or culture. Classic Christian Science is a system of divine Mind-healing that can be applied to everyday life.

Rather than observe detached traditions, I study Christian Science as defined by Mary Baker Eddy in the 19^th century in her book Rudimental Divine Science, “The law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony.” There is no mystery to Christian or divine Science. It circulates quietly in consciousness in every corner of the world, interpreting itself in languages and forms understood by people in all walks of life.

Back in the day, while taking a scientific approach, Mary Baker Eddy studied the power of mind and its ability to heal. Her research was quick to reveal an inconsistency within human minds. Eddy then pushed the boundaries of research past the human mind and discovered an active healing force, greater than any human mind. She dubbed it divine Mind.

Working within the framework of her Christian upbringing, Eddy theorized this healing divine Mind was God. Moreover, the prophets and Christ Jesus healed through the power of God, Mind. Eddy developed the theory and discovered spiritual rules, that when followed, would result in spiritual healing. She wrote a book, outlining Christian Science, titled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Although years later, Eddy established a religious organization, Christian Science is still autonomous. The healing power of God is unaffected by human beings and/or religious organizations.

When applying the spiritual rules as outlined in the Bible and Science and Health, I’ve experienced profound physical and emotional healing. But, I’m careful not to mechanically connect Christian Science to a church, a dogma, or a human way of life. The propaganda surrounding Christian Science, or any religion for that matter, needs to be dismissed, in order to embrace the inspiration that correctly interprets its spiritual rules.

The study of Christian Science has been interesting and effective. Revisions of the Bible and Science and Health allow the study of Mind-healing to express their full voice.  However, the spirit of Mind-healing  is detected in places where people are unfamiliar with the Bible and Science and Health, because the law of God is not locked into words, churches, Christian Scientists, or time and space.