If there is a new mind; there must be an old mind.

NM 21: Old Mind

Our Secret Thoughts
White Bear: Can we control our thoughts?
Negative Flash-thoughts
Lying
Morbid Thoughts
Weird Sexual Thoughts
Flash-thoughts Individualized & Universal
In Control of our Thoughts?
Other Mind
Children's Behavior
In the Beginning ...

NM21 Abstract

What is in man's mind? Are there negative flash thoughts in our minds, and if so, where do they come from? Why do many of us have strange thoughts that seem to just pop into our minds? Who teaches us these thoughts? Is mankind in control of all their thoughts? If not, why not? What we learn in this paper is that there actually is another mind which we call in this paper the other-mind. One proof of the existence of this "other-mind" is the very thoughts we do not willingly think that suddenly come into all our minds.

Secret Thoughts

nm935» Why do people sometimes get recurring thoughts which they can't seem to control? Why are people unreasonably afraid of some things? Why do we sometimes, in bitter arguments, say offensive things that we do not really mean? Why do people sometimes unreasonably criticize other people? Of course, in our conversations we sometimes talk about some positive aspects of people. We say, "Sally is sure good looking, but do you know that she...." If we do say something good about a person we always seem to quickly add something negative. Mankind's thoughts are often negative in this age. And from these negative thoughts come the confusion and misbehavior we see everywhere.

nm936» We live in the age of contrary minds. Suicide, depression, recurring thoughts, loneliness, fear, hostility, and other problems are mental problems, or that is, problems belonging to the mind. People go to psychologists and counselors in an attempt to straighten out their mental problems. We live in an age with immense problems that are caused by negative thoughts. In this paper we are going to show you where these problems come from.

White Bear: Can we control our thoughts?

nm937» As a child, the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevski:

"once challenged his younger brother to remain standing in a corner until he could stop thinking of a white bear. In this homespun experiment, the child learned something important about the human mind: We do not so much control our thoughts as we are controlled by thoughts that we don't want to think.

Indeed, just about all mental illnesses - obsessions, compulsions, depressions, phobias, anxiety reactions, post-traumatic stress disorders, self-control problems such as addiction and eating disorders, schizophrenia and other psychoses - along with just plain everyday emotional distress - are marked by problems in the area of mental control.

There is a paradox here, too; namely, the more effort that one expends not to think something, oftentimes the more difficult it is to expel it from our consciousness" ("Honey of an approach to problems of the mind," review by Richard Restak of the book: White Bears and Other Unwanted Thoughts: Suppression, Obsession, and the Psychology of Mental Control, by Daniel M. Wegner, found in Washington Times, July 17, 1989, p. E9).

As Dostoyevski said, "we do not so much control our thoughts as we are controlled by thoughts that we don't want to think." There are many thoughts each day that flash into the mind. Sometimes they stick there and we cannot rid our mind of them. These thoughts are similar to trying not to think of white bears. But even harmless thoughts can lead to trouble in some people's minds if they dwell on them too long or if the thought becomes an obsession.

Negative Flash-thoughts

nm938» We need to know something about flash-thoughts, especially negative ones. A flash-thought is a message that comes into our mind in a split second. A negative flash-thought is a misdirected one that may result in behavior that hurts or harms. Let's examine some examples of negative flash-thoughts.

nm939» Have you ever looked at an item in a store and a thought flashed through your mind of putting that thing in your pocket, or of picturing in your mind the item breaking into a thousand pieces? How many times have you been eating when a thought flashed into your mind of you choking on the food? A common type of negative flash-thought is the kind you get almost every time you are up high and you look down. The flash-thought you get is of yourself falling down, or being pushed down, or of pushing the one next to you down. Of course you don't jump off and you don't push your friend off because you do have control of your mind and you don't want the flash-thought to actually happen. But why do you or I have these flash-thoughts or ones like them? If we are actually in FULL control of our minds, why do we get these thoughts?

Lying

nm940» Other negative flash-thoughts have to do with lying. When people get into certain situations a lie immediately flashes into their mind instead of the truth. Often when people are confronted by the truth they rationalize the truth away. In other words, they lie. When confronted by the truth, instead of agreeing with the truth, they lie. The reason is because a lie is flashed to their brain and, without thinking or analyzing the flash-thought, they merely repeat the lie which was flashed into their brain. All this is very subtle. The next time you lie, ask yourself why you told that lie. Think back at the very instant you spoke. Did you or did you not merely repeat the lie that flashed into you mind? Ask yourself why in that situation and others like it that you seem to repeat the lie that flashes into your mind instead of telling the truth. Why does a lie flash into your mind? Why not the truth? Why doesn't the truth flash into our minds? Again I repeat all this is very subtle. Some of you will say you always tell the truth, you never lie, but that is not the truth.

What is a Lie?

nm941» What is a lie? To tell the truth is to tell it like it is. To tell a lie is to tell it like it is not.

• Some of us may tell a lie out of ignorance. We merely repeat something we heard thinking we are telling the truth, but in fact we are lying because we are repeating a falsehood through ignorance.
• Within the lie of ignorance may also dwell the lie of I-know-it-all or intolerance to constructive criticism; we repeat lies because we already wrongfully think we know it all.
• When we knowingly omit important information in our conversation that is pertinent to the truthfulness of the conversation, we may be committing the lie of omission. This lie depends on the the context and circumstances. If we are protecting someone who is innocent from wrongful harm by omitting information, is that lying?
• Another kind of lie is the lie of exaggeration. We stretch the truth in our exaggerations. We exaggerate about our importance, our appearance, our wealth, our righteousness, our honesty, our love-making, our knowledge, and so forth.
• Some walk around with the lie of arrogance as if they were really something when they are not. The lie of arrogance applies to those who are not really what they pretend to be, or who may be what they say they are, but who "toot their horn" too much when announcing their position.
• Blaming others for your problems or faults is one of the most common types of lies: this is a lie of scapegoating.
• Some fat people look in the mirror and don't see the fat: this is a lie of perception. Some beautiful people look into the mirror and see or exaggerate some "flaw" and think of themselves as ugly. This is lying.
• Some go to church every week and put on an air of righteousness when all week they were anything but righteous: this is a lie of hypocrisy.
• Some think, or say, "I'm a very honest person; I always tell the truth even when it hurts," while in the very next minute they exaggerate about themselves or falsely play the meek person: this is a lie of pretense.
• Some think they are God's gift to the opposite sex while in reality they are quite average: this is a lie of amour-propre.
• Some repeat "knowledge" they were indoctrinated with in school as if this "knowledge" was quite the thing when in fact it is knowledge of someone's own imagination: this is a lie of intellectual vanity.
• Some pretend to be poor, so they do not have to fulfill normal obligations: that is a lie of counterfeit poverty.
• Some cannot see or emphasize with others; their whole universe surrounds their self: this is a lie of narcissism or vanity.

Lying is what most people do best. Most lies for most people are subtle. Some lies we call "white-lies." But when we add white lies to white lies, we get full-fledged liars. We get a pattern of lies. We get "human nature." Yet most can't see the lies because the lies are so much a part of people in this age. But the strange thing about people's lying is that they hardly ever get flash-thoughts about the truth. The first thoughts in "tight" situations are lies. Why doesn't the truth first flash into our minds? Why the subtle flash-thoughts of exaggeration and falsehood? Why?

Who Teaches us, and our Children, to Lie?

nm942» Did our parents and teachers teach us to lie? Think about this. Normal parents teach us to tell the truth - to never lie. Yet children and adults become expert liars. While parents teach their children to tell the truth, are there voices in the dark of the night whispering lying methods in our children's ears? Think about this. There are sophisticated methods of lying. Children seem to know or learn them very expertly. We can for hours teach them important subjects in which they will never become experts, but not so with lying. You say children pick up these lies from their parents, and you are partly right, but they also, even more so, pick up lies from another teacher. Do read on.

Morbid Thoughts

nm943» Some people have morbid flash-thoughts every time they see a knife. These people look at a knife and in an instant a morbid flash-thought comes into their mind of throwing that knife, or of aggressively killing someone with that knife, or of someone putting that knife into them. I know many have had flash-thoughts of harming or killing someone. Some get morbid thoughts just diving down the highway: "you just ran over a person" goes the morbid thought. Of course they didn't run over anyone, but these morbid thoughts can come at anytime for no reason; random and unwanted morbid thoughts make us uneasy. At the very least most have had the momentary wish or hope of the death of someone they hate: "I wish he was dead" or "I could kill him" or "I wish a truck would run over him." We live in an age of misdirected aggression and violence. And in our thoughts are flashes of us harming or killing. In some fits of rage these flash-thoughts of harming or even killing others can even be of harming our friends and our lovers. Psychologists know about this; they hear their patients speak about the voice within them telling them to do awful things, or the thought that suddenly comes into their minds. But why do humans sometimes get these flash-thoughts?

We Deny Them, But...

nm944» Now most will deny that they have ever had thoughts of hurting or killing others. But this denial is "normal" human behavior. Humans cannot admit they have any such thoughts in their minds because most people, even the most evil, do not think of themselves as carrying any evil thoughts. But it is a certain thing that most, if not all, have had thoughts of hurting or killing others or even torturing others, especially at times when we are very angry at someone. Certainly we will quickly try to put these thoughts out of our minds because we know that hurting or killing people is wrong. And we will not want to admit this to others, for we wish to keep these and other morbid thoughts secret because we do not know how common these thoughts are in this age. Most of us think of our self in a good light. There are very few people who go around truly believing that they are bad, or have bad thoughts. Even the most evil of our age, do not think of themselves as evil, that would be honesty, and the evil are not honest, they lie to themselves more than the less evil ones.

During War Morbid Thoughts Let Loose

nm945» Sometimes during war those in power carry out morbid thoughts that in normal times they would never do. They do this because they are committing these acts against the "enemy," and because they have the power to kill others during wartime. During wars, or in the cases of those who lose their minds, we see the fulfilling of the morbid thoughts that almost all of us have from time to time. I am saying that you and I and our neighbors have had, and still do have at times, flashes of morbid thoughts. WHY? Are we in full control of our minds? If we are in full control then why do we have these morbid thoughts? Surely we do not agree with these thoughts. So why do we have them?

"Devil within us"?

nm946» In The Washington Times, June 22, 1989, p. F4, Dr. Richard M. Restak, a neurologist and neuropsychiatrist, an author of "The Brain" and "The Mind," reviewed a book by Ronald Markman and Dominick Bosco, Alone with the Devil: Famous Cases of a Courtroom Psychiatrist, and in the review he writes:

• "Most crimes - even grisly murders - are not committed by mentally ill people, but by people just like you and me." He quotes with approval a statement by Linda Kasabian, a member of the Charles Manson "family," found guilty of the Sharon Tate-LaBianca murders: "I believe that we all have a part of the Devil within us - it's just a matter of bringing it out." Dr. Markman admits, "We all do have a willingness - even an appetite - to kill within us. All it takes is the right combination of factors to raise it to the surface."

Weird Sexual Thoughts

nm947» Sexual thoughts are a subject that many don't wish to speak about. Most if not all of us have had and still do have flash-thoughts concerning sex and things pertaining to sex. Some of these flash-thoughts are negative. Today some think it is "in" to speak about sexual fantasies. Books have been written lately on male and female sexual fantasies. Magazines print letters of people revealing their most intimate sexual fantasies. Most people have them.

nm948» Now what are some negative sex thoughts that sometimes flash into our heads? There are the sadistic or masochistic sexual fantasies. There are the thoughts of seeing two members of the same sex make love to each other. There are thoughts of dressing in the opposite sex's clothes. There are thoughts of sexually cheating on our marriage mates. There are thoughts of sexual self-exposure. (Nudity, in and of itself, is not wrong, but it may be the attitude of a male or a female exposing himself or herself that may be wrong, and it may be the place and context of the situation of the exposing that may be wrong or negative.) These negative sexual fantasies and others, start out as short flash-thoughts. Some people become attached to these flash-thoughts and soon dwell on them and even make love while thinking about them. Some go and do them in one form or another. Not all of us dwell on these sexual flash-thoughts, or go out and perform them, but the flashing of negative sex thoughts has entered our minds.

Flash-Thoughts Individualized and Universal

nm949» The whole point I am trying to make is that there are thoughts that flash into our minds, and that these thoughts in this age are often negative. Many of the above examples need to be individualized. We all have our own kind of negative flash-thoughts. Some people have guilt flashes; they are always feeling guilty about something. If these people would make an attempt to closely examine their minds they will find that the beginning of each session of guilt was started by a flash-thought of guilt. Some people have flash-thoughts of pride which they dwell on until they bubble up with pride. Many people, during arguments, say things that they really don't mean or believe, but during the heated argument negative flash-thoughts creep into their brains, and before they know it they have uttered these thoughts. Actually most of us at some time have flash-thoughts concerning almost every subject we covered. But as individuals we specialize on certain flash-thoughts. Some specialize on sex. Some specialize on guilt. Some specialize on pride. Some specialize on lies, the "small" ones and large ones. Some specialize on delusion. Some specialize on morbid subjects. That is, each of us dwells on some of the many kinds of negative flash-thoughts that pop into our heads each day of our lives in this age, the old age.

nm950» Some of you will say that you do not have these negative thoughts. But I disagree. All in this age do have negative flash-thoughts. These thoughts sneak up on us while we are talking, sleeping, reading, making love, and so forth. In this age they are universal. Everyone has them in one form or another.

In Control of Our Thoughts?

nm951» Something very strange is going on in this age with our minds. We all have negative flash-thoughts. Many of these are so gross we never speak about them to other people because it would embarrass us. Because we don't communicate in this age our secret negative flash-thoughts to each other, we are unaware of the universality of these thoughts and the phenomenon of negative flash-thoughts. If we don't like our negative thoughts, why can't we get rid of them? Why can't we control these flash-thoughts? If they are a part of OUR minds, why can't we control them?

Thought Rape or a Symbiotic Couple?

nm952» Are we in FULL control of our minds? If I wish to move any part of my body, let's say my hand, I merely in my mind command my hand to move when and where I want it to. Only those who are physically or mentally ill can't control their physical actions. If I am in control of my body, why am I not in control of my thoughts? Why can't you or I fully control our thoughts? You say we are in full control of our minds. If we were in full control of our minds we would rid our minds of all falsehood, all guilt, all morbid thoughts, all strange fantasies, and so forth. The fact is we are not in FULL control of our thoughts or minds. The negative flash-thoughts that we want no part of are not from our physical minds. Our minds in a sense are being raped. We must scream and fight these intrusive thoughts as if we are being raped (Deut 22:23-27), or are we not agreeing with these thoughts and the thought-rape becomes consensual and we become a symbiotic couple with these thoughts, a sort of Bonnie and Clyde pair? (Clyde suggested the crimes and Bonnie went along; flash-thoughts suggest something and we go along.) Yes, our minds are being misused, or shall I say raped, in this age. But if we were in control of our minds, as we are in control of moving our hands, then we would rid ourselves of many of our mental thoughts and never allow many of those flash-thoughts to sneak into our minds. There is something strange going on in this age.

Other-Mind

nm953» There is another mind in this age besides the physical one. What am I saying?: "There is another mind." I am saying that those negative flash-thoughts that have entered my mind and have entered your mind are not a part of our physical minds? The other-mind is a negative mind, a gross mind, a lying mind, a mind playing games in our minds, a mind "raping" our physical mind.

Rush

nm954» When people get pleasure from thoughts of a twisted nature, they are feeling the pleasure from the other-mind inside of them. Do you think a masochist's thoughts come from his own mind? A masochist's gets pleasure from being humiliated or physically pained. This way of getting pleasure is from the other-mind. This pleasure often times manifests itself as a "rush." Every person is capable of having a "rush." A "rush" is a phenomenon of the mind. A rich lady who steals some small item in a store may have a rush when she does it. A rapist may feel a rush when he rapes. A mass killer may feel a rush in his mad and senseless murders. A couple having some form of kinky sex has a rush when they do it even though others may not think of it as "kinky." Not all rushes are wrong, but for sure a rapist's rush is wrong. A "rush" is comparable to the feeling you get over an exciting event, you blood flushes and your heart beat rate increases. This "rush" is the strong opium that stimulates a mass killer, a rapist, a homosexual, a child-molester to continue in his madness. This rush gives a form of pleasure to things that ought not to be pleasurable. This kind of rush comes from the other-mind.

What is this other-mind?

nm955» This other-mind is not physical; it is spiritual. That is, the other-mind is a mental phenomenon that does not belong to our physical body, but is an invisible or spiritual power in our minds. Something that is spiritual is something that is not easily detectable by sight, touch, smell, or by our other senses. Spirit is analogous to air: you cannot see air but we see the effect of its wind; spirit is invisible but we see the effects on mankind's behavior. The spiritual is detectable mentally by many. Some of you believe in the spiritual. If you think of yourself as Christian, you believe in evil spirits and good spirits or angels. Some of you interested in the occult believe in the spiritual dimension also although your perception of the spiritual is not like the Christian perception. In the New Testament of the Bible it speaks of demons doing harm to people. In the Old Testament it speaks of lying spirits. Some of you from other religions or backgrounds also believe in the spiritual or invisible world. Almost all peoples in history have had their beliefs about the spiritual world. Even those who do not believe in the spiritual believe nevertheless in invisible forces that they call by such names as gravity, black holes, protons, etc. In the psyche of man there is knowledge of a spiritual dimension which is evil and affects mankind in various ways.

Invisible, Unwanted Power

nm956» These demons, these evil lying spirits, these things of the spiritual dimension are the other-mind. These evil spirits or angels or invisible things are the other-mind that is inside our physical minds feeding us with negative thoughts. These negative thoughts come first to us in a flash-thought. Some of us are caught off guard by this invasion of our minds, and because we don't understand it, we sometimes think that these flash-thoughts belong to us. From these flash-thoughts many of us begin to dwell on these thoughts until they become a part of our life. Some are so captured by these thoughts and dwell on these negative thoughts so much that they are in a sense possessed by these thoughts. In another sense one might say some are possessed by the other-mind within them. The best explanation of compulsive liars is that they are in someway possessed by a spiritual other-mind that lies continually. The best explanation for bizarre behavior of people is that they are in someway possessed by the spiritual other-mind. When we look at bizarre behavior we are in a sense looking at the other-mind that has gotten some control of that person, either because the person has some biological or environmental weakness and/or because the other-mind has extra power.

Other-Mind's Universality

nm957» Where the knowledge I am relating to you in this paper differs from other beliefs on demons or evil spirits or on the negative mind is that I am saying all of us have such an invisible mind within us in the old age. It is the other-mind that is putting negative flash-thoughts into our minds. This negative-invading mind belongs to the present age of confusion. This other-mind is the main cause of the confusion of this age. Beginning with the New Age, the old spiritual mind or spirit will be put out of us. This is a sure thing. It will happen. When this other-mind is put out of our minds, then peace will come to man. Man can't have peace of mind or peace between nations until this evil and destructive force is put out of our minds. The ONE who somehow put this evil force in our minds will take it out. The Power that controls the cosmos is in full control (see the

Other-mind, Subtle and Common

nm958» Now some when they hear of demons or evil think of only morbid things. And it would be unthinkable for these to admit publicly that they have such things in their minds. But if you understand the beginning of this paper you understand the great subtlety and universality of the other-mind or of the demon of this age. Further, you must understand that when I speak of evil, I am speaking of actions that harm or confuse or wrong. Evil isn't just extreme things, it is also the subtle things and even the so-called "white lies."

Who is Responsible?

nm959» Almost every problem in human relations can be traced to the other-mind. There has been much research on transsexuals and homosexuals which indicate in most cases that there are no consistent biological or environmental causes for these behaviors. The other-mind is the main cause. Most hardened criminals also have no consistent biological or environmental reasons for their behavior. The other-mind is the main cause. This is not to say we can blame all our problems on the other-mind for it takes team work for evil to occur. The other-mind can do nothing without a physical partner to the crimes. The physical partner in someway must agree to the evil in order for it to occur. In order for the crimes of Bonnie and Clyde to occur, Bonnie had to go along and even start to enjoy the crimes in some perverse way. In this analogy, mankind is Bonnie and Clyde is the other-mind. Both Bonnie and Clyde were responsible for their evil as both mankind and the other-mind are responsible. Yet there is more to this as we see in the God Papers: God also has his powerful part in this dance between evil and good in this age.

Children's Behavior

nm960» The sons and daughters who were brought up in caring homes by loving parents who somehow have turned to crime can also be explained by the phenomenon of the other-mind. Many people look on the children of this age as innocent little creatures. But those who have been around these little ones know that they can be cunning, selfish, lying, aggressive, violent, and so forth. Little children are much like the rest of us in this age. Some say it is because they see their parents doing wrong acts and thus are learning from their parents. This is true to a certain extent, but it is not the true answer.

Children and 'No'

nm961» When our children are very young we notice that many times they are very interested in doing things we have told them not to do. We tell them no, and the "no" makes them want to do it even more. Now think about this. Do we teach our children to do what we want them not to do? Do we set them aside each day and tell them, "now Johnny, every time I tell you not to do something, you should do it anyway and take great pleasure in doing what I have told you not to do"? Of course not, we never teach our children to disobey us. We teach them to obey us and we even back it up with spankings on their bottoms. Yet they continue at times to disobey us, even after we discipline them, and they, to judge by their facial expressions, take pleasure in disobeying us. Where do they learn this misbehavior? Who teaches them? The other-mind is the main cause of children's misbehavior. The other-mind, so to speak, talks in their ear urging them on with their episodes of misbehavior. Children left to themselves will become very selfish and cruel individuals because they have even less control over the negative thoughts than we do. In this age children must be taught self-control early in their life. That is, they must be taught how to cope with their inward negative thoughts. Parents who know about the other-mind are more able to understand their children and more able to help their children to grow into more constructive and healthy individuals. Yet in some cases the other-mind is such a force in a child's mind that the parents will have a very difficult time with their child. In the new cosmos the other-mind will not affect us. But for now it is with us and does affect our behavior in this age.

Source of Information

nm962» Now where did I get this information? Why do we have the other-mind in our physical minds? I will answer the first question next, then go on to answer the other question. Through various events in my life and much study I have come to the conclusion that the books more commonly called the Bible, have the true explanation of life written down. Now some of you who may consider yourselves scientific or humanistic will disagree. And some of you of other religious back-grounds than Christian or Jewish will also disagree. I can only refer you to the "Bible Paper" [BP 3] which is in the Beginning Papers, for some of the evidence on which I base my contention that the Bible is the source which God has given man to ascertain his Truth. I suppose some will even disagree that there is a God or Power which has created the cosmos. These are in essence saying that a non-intelligent cosmic soup created the universe. These few should examine the information contained in and referred to in the "Premise For Belief Paper" [BP 5]. For those who do read on I will show them where in the Bible the other-mind is pictured, when the other-mind was put into man's mind, when this other-mind will be taken out of man, and what will become of these spiritual other-minds. Do continue reading.

Important: In order to understand better the following part you should study the: "Bible Paper" [BP 3], "Premise For Belief Paper" [BP 5], and the "Duality Paper" [BP 4] as well as all the BeComingOne Papers.

IN THE BEGINNING ...

Spirit inside Mankind
Genesis: Chapters Two & Three
Serpent Tests Eve
Law and Sin
Other-Mind: Spirit & Power of Evil
Man's Heart & Other Mind

nm963» Genesis is the first book of the Bible. In this first book is the Biblical rendition of the beginning of the universe ("heavens and earth") and the beginning of mankind. There were seven days of creation. On the sixth day of creation "God created man in his image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Gen 1:27; see

Spirit Inside Mankind

nm964» An amplification on the creation of mankind is mentioned in chapter 2 of Genesis. Here it tells us God created man out of the dust of the earth on the sixth day. The word translated as Adam or man is a Hebrew word meaning "to be red or reddish."

"And Jehovah God [Lord God] formed the man, dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils (the) breath of life." [Gen 2:7]

Now notice that Jehovah "breathed" into man the "breath" of life. In the English version of the Old Testament the word "breath" is translated from either the Hebrew word neshamah or ruah. These words differ slightly in meaning, both signifying sometimes "wind" then sometimes "breath." The word translated into "breath" in Genesis 2:7 is the Hebrew word neshamah.

nm965» Both Hebrew words, neshamah and ruah are translated as "spirit" in various places in the English translations of the Bible. And in the book of John in the New Testament, Jesus Christ tries to explain spirit to some: "the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know from where it comes and where it goes" (John 3:8). In other translations it has for John 3:8, the "spirit breathes" instead of the "wind blows." This is so because in the Greek New Testament the Greek word translated in English Bibles as "wind" or "spirit" is the same word. Thus in the Old Testament and the New Testament "wind" and "spirit" are interchangeable words. And Jesus Christ tries to explain spirit by comparing it to the wind that blows. And in John 20:22 it reads:

• "and having said this he [Jesus] breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit."

Notice the similarity between Jesus Christ breathing into his followers, which signifies them receiving the Holy Spirit, and Jehovah in Genesis breathing into man, which signifies them receiving the breath or spirit of life. We thus take Gen 2:7 as indicating a dual sense. In one sense, the physical sense, Jehovah breathed into man the literal breath or air of life and man became a breathing and living life. In the second sense, the spiritual sense, Jehovah was putting a spirit into man after he created man. What spirit was put into man at that time? And what is meant by spirit? Also see information in Num 22.

Angels Are Spiritual Messengers

nm966» Spirits and angels are connected because angels are spirits (Heb 1:7). And angels are messengers because the word "angel" is translated from a Hebrew word in the Old Testament and a Greek word in the New Testament which means messenger, or one who is sent. Not only do we know that angels are messengers by the meaning of the word, but also because of their activities in the Bible. Angels are spiritual beings sent to do the will of the God. They affect people and nations by putting thoughts into people's minds. The thoughts of confusion are administered by the angels of evil, or the other-minds, or shall we say the demons. (Don't jump to conclusions yet, do read on.) I don't care to use the word evil or demon because of the connotations these words create in some people's minds. But what I wish to communicate here is that the other-mind that works in each of us is a spiritual being or angel (messenger) who puts negative flash-thoughts into our minds, sometimes very subtle thoughts. An evil angel is a messenger of evil; he brings base thoughts to our brains. There are now some good angels or messengers who do bring good thoughts into some people's minds in this age, but for the most part most people in this age only have the other-mind inside their mind (see the This is the reason the present age is an evil age. Not only do we have to fight a hostile environment, we also must fight the negative thoughts from the other-mind.

nm967» Now to answer the question above which was, "what spirit was put into man?" At the beginning of creation a spirit was put into the mind of man by Jehovah. (The word, Jehovah, is translated "Lord" in some English Bibles.) By looking around us today and by knowing something about the other-mind as I explained it previously, we know that the spirit or angel (messenger) that was placed in mankind's mind at the beginning was the other-mind, that confused and evil mind. We can begin to see the Biblical proof of this by reading chapters two and three of the book of Genesis. Let's go over the scripture in those chapters.

Genesis: Chapters Two and Three

nm968» In Gen 2:16-17 it reads,

 

• "And Jehovah God commanded the man saying, You may freely eat of every tree in the garden; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you may not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, dying you shall die."

In the day that man ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil he would die according to God. Now next God created out of man a woman (in the beginning God created the man first before He created the woman) for God said that it wasn't good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18-22). After God brought woman to man, the man said,

• "This now at last is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. For this it shall be called Woman, because this has been taken out of man."

Then the story continues,

• "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed."

Thus we see that they weren't ashamed, they had no shame even though they were naked. But next in chapter three of Genesis something happens.

First Lie

nm969» In chapter three of Genesis it speaks of the "serpent" who deceived mankind into taking fruit from the "tree of knowledge of good and evil." Now in the book of Revelation (Rev 12:9) we see that this "serpent" is none other than the one called the Devil and Satan. He was the father of lies (John 8:44). We also see that in the Biblical rendition on this serpent in Genesis that this serpent spoke to Eve, the wife of Adam. Today we do not see any serpents or snakes talking to women. Because of such stories in the Bible some have come to think of the Bible as a book of tales with little or no truth. By reading our papers and by reading some of the books we recommend which document the soundness of the Bible as a true document, you will find out for yourself that the Bible is not a book of tales but a book of facts and true history with Spiritual insight and prophecy of future events.

Figures of Speech

How Satan Spoke to Eve

nm970» What does the Bible mean when it says that a serpent spoke to the woman? Are we to take this literally that this serpent in the beginning spoke to mankind? I don't believe so just as we are not to take it literally that trees clap their hands or that mountains and hills shall break forth into singing (Isa 55:12). The Bible uses all kinds of figures of speech. The Bible uses similes, "his eyes were as a flame of fire" (Rev 1:14). The Bible uses metaphors, "tell that fox" (Luke 13:32). The Bible uses metonyms, "if the house be worthy" (Mat 10:13). The Bible uses synecdoches, "all the world should be taxed" (Luke 2:1). The Bible uses personifications, "the earth mourns and fades away" (Isa 24:4). The Bible uses apostrophes, "O death, where is thy sting?" (1Cor 15:55) The Bible uses hyperboles, "the light of the sun shall be sevenfold" (Isa 30:26). The Bible uses allegories, "this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia."(Gal 4:24) The Bible uses parables, "behold, a sower went forth to sow" (Mat Gal). The Bible also uses irony, riddles, and fables (1Kings 18:27; Rev 13:18; and Judg 9:8 ff & 2Kgs 14:9 ff). So we can see that the Bible is rich in its use of language (see The serpent did not literally speak to Eve, only in a figurative way did the serpent speak to Eve. I will now show you this.

Serpent Tests Eve

nm971» In chapter three we see a serpent that

• "was crafty above every animal of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Is it true that God has said, You shall not eat from any tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said to the woman, Dying you shall not die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes shall be opened and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make wise, and she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed leaves of the fig-tree and made girdles for themselves. And they heard the sound of Jehovah God walking up and down in the garden at the breeze of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the middle of the trees of the garden. And Jehovah God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? And he said, I have heard your sound in the garden, and I was afraid, for I am naked, and I hid myself. And He [Jehovah] said, Who told you ⁽¹⁾ that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I have commanded you not to eat? And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she has given to me of the tree, and I ate. And Jehovah God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me and I ate." [Gen. 3:1-13]

Figuratively Speaking

nm972» Notice what is revealed in these verses. First, before mankind took from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they had no shame (Gen 2:25). Next a snake or serpent came along and spoke to the woman. Now we do not have to take this literally. As I explained above the Bible is very lively in its use of the language. The Bible uses many different kinds of figures of speech. We know trees don't clap their hands because for one reason trees don't have hands. Yet in Isa 55:12 it speaks of trees that will clap their hands. We also know that serpents or snakes don't speak. At least they don't speak like mankind. (Of course the serpent in the garden may have actually spoken, for God can do that if he had wished it to be so. But because the Old Testament is so filled with figures of speech, and because we have no proof that serpents literally speak in the way mankind speaks, we therefore won't take this part of the Bible literally just as we won't take Isa 55:12 literally.)

nm973» What happened was this: The woman was near the tree of knowledge of good and evil when a physical serpent was winding itself around the tree and through the serpent's various motions and movements the serpent brought the woman's attention to the fruit on the tree. But it was the spiritual serpent inside the head of Eve that spoke to her. In other words, what tempted Eve that day was the spirit that Jehovah put inside mankind (Gen 2:7). That spirit is the other-mind that even today is inside mankind's mind. It was the other-mind inside Eve that spoke to her that day. Notice in Revelation, chapter 12:9, it reads that "the old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which misleads the whole world." As explained in the "Duality Paper" [BP 4] we are to take the higher or spiritual meaning of the Bible in order to ascertain the Spiritual truths of the Bible. The higher meaning of the serpent in Genesis is the spiritual serpent which is the Devil or Satan. One can say that the spirit that Jehovah put into man in the beginning was the spirit of Satan or the Devil, or that is, the spirit of evil and confusion, or as we are calling it in this paper, the other-mind that now lives in mankind. The actual spirit ("breath") that God put into mankind was the spirit that started evil by testing Eve (See also NM 22). This is difficult to understand, but do read on to see more proof.

Law and Sin

nm974» When mankind took from the tree of knowledge they were breaking the law that God had given to them. The law was simple, don't take any fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Mankind could take from all the other trees in the garden, but somehow they desired the forbidden tree very much. Even though God promised death as the reward for taking from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, mankind still took from that tree. The serpent lied to Eve about the death they would receive, "You shall not surely die" (Gen 3:4) The serpent mixed one lie with the truth to deceive Eve, a very subtle deception that played on Eve's desire for knowledge. And so as to not displease his wife, Adam listened to his wife and also sinned.

Romans Chapter Seven

nm975» Notice the following statement that Paul made in Romans, chapter seven of the New Testament. What Paul said in chapter seven fits very well what happened in the Genesis' account:

• "But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment [of Gen 2:17], produced in me [Paul represents mankind] every kind of covetous desire [for the tree]. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law [before Gen 2:17]; but when the commandment [Gen 2:17] came, sin sprang to life [the spiritual serpent sprang to life tempting Eve] and I died. [that is mankind was given death because they broke the law in Genesis 2:17] I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. [God's warning to man was intended to keep man from death and bring him to life] Did that which was good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am [mankind] unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not know what I am doing, For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." [Rom 7:8-23]

Law of Sin

nm976» Paul in these verses can be substituted for mankind as a whole with one exception. Paul had the good Spirit of God in him, but in this age most people only have the evil spirit in them, for most people will not receive their own good spirit until a later time (see the Yet we see Paul fighting the law of sin inside him. Paul wants to do good, he has the Spirit of God inside him leading him to good, but Paul finds another law inside him, and that law is the law of sin. The other-mind in mankind's head in this age works like a law of evil. The other-mind is an evil angel or spiritual messenger inside man's mind misleading man, and this other-mind operates like a law, that is, it operates like a law of sin or evil.

Sin and Satan

nm977» Sin is defined in the Bible as lawlessness (1John 3:4). As Rev 12:9 says the serpent in Genesis was Satan who has deceived the whole world. Actually "sin" is just another name for Satan. The words "sin" and "Satan" are interchangeable. As light, life, and love are used in the Bible for God (John 1 & 1John 4:8) so too can darkness, death, and sin be used for Satan. God is love, but Satan is sin. Now when you transpose in Romans, chapter seven, the word Satan for sin, you can see more clearly how this chapter adds to the rendition in Genesis. It was the spirit of Satan that Jehovah put into mankind in the beginning (Gen 2:7). But this spirit didn't show himself evil until the commandment came (Gen 2:17). Then this spirit in mankind took as an occasion the commandment (Roman 7:8,11) and deceived man (Gen 3:1-5) and thereby killed man. As Jesus Christ said: "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning [the spirit of Satan in a sense killed man by deceiving man in Genesis], not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him" (John 8:44). It is the spirit of Satan inside mankind that is causing most of the problems in this age. It is the other-mind that is contrary to our eventual happiness and is the main cause of our present problems.

Other-Mind Is a Spirit and Power of Evil

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood

nm978» It is Satan or the spiritual other-mind that misleads the whole world (Rev 12:9). It is the power of Satan or the power of the other-mind which we must turn from (Acts 26:18). It is the devil's schemes, deceiving spirits, and things taught by demons of which we must be careful (Eph 6:11; 1Tim 4:1). "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Eph 6:12). "He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning" (1John 3:8). As we have shown you it was the spirit of Satan that put the thought in Eve's mind of breaking God's first law. This spirit of Satan is the spiritual other-mind that works in us.

Other-Mind also Called...

nm979» The no-good thing living in man is that sin or Satan living and working in man (Romans 7:18,20). It is the spirit in us that lusts after evil (James 4:5). This spirit is also called the spirit of slumber (Rom 11:8), it is called the spirit of bondage (Rom 8:15), it is called the spirit of sleep (Isaiah 29:10), it is called the lying spirit (1Kings 22:21-23), it is called the unclean spirit (Zech 13:2), it is called the spirit of whoredoms and it causes people to err (Hosea 4:12; 5:4), it is called the spirit of this world (1Cor 2:12), it is called the haughty spirit (Prov 16:18), it is called the perverse spirit (Isa 19:14), it is called the troubled spirit (Gen 41:8), it is called the spirit of jealousy (Num 5:14), it is called the spirit of man (1Cor 2:11), and so on.

Spirit of Man

Satan in Peter?

nm980» It is the spirit of man that is within mankind that knows the thoughts of man (1Cor 2:11). Since the Bible looks upon man in this age as evil, then this spirit of man must be evil. What is this spirit in man that thinks like man? "Out of my sight, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men" (Mat 16:23). Now in this last verse Jesus was speaking to Peter, for "Jesus turned and said to Peter, Out of my sight, Satan!" Jesus was talking to the physical Peter, but he called him Satan. Why? Jesus called Peter "Satan" because he was talking to the spirit of man which lived inside Peter and which was misleading Peter at that time.

Fight against Satan's Power

nm981» In Luke 22:3 and John 13:27 we read where Satan even caused Judas to err. "The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, that he should betray Him." It wasn't Judas himself that conceived of the idea of betraying Jesus, it was the spirit of Satan inside him that did it. It is Satan's spiritual power that takes captive at his will, not mankind's nature (2Tim 2:26; Acts 26:18). It is the snare and wiles of the spirit of the devil that people must guard against, not human nature (Eph 6:11; 1Tim 4:1). It is the other-mind or Satan that we are fighting against, "not flesh and blood" (Eph 6:12). It is Satan who fills the heart to lie (Acts 5:3). There is a spirit in man that yearns to envy and this spirit is of the devil (James 4:5,7).

Worthless Mind

nm982» Mankind was given the spirit of Satan in the beginning although it didn't show itself as evil until after God gave man a law. Because Satan's spirit is a law-breaking-spirit, it took the law to show the nature of Satan's spirit. Satan's spirit is the other-mind that works in us. It is the worthless mind described in Rom 1:28-31:

• "God gave them up to a mind that was not fit for any good, to do those things which were not right, being filled with all kinds of unrighteousness: fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malice, full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, evil habits, whisperers, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, proud, braggarts, deviser of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, impossible to trust, without natural love, unforgiving and without mercy."

Man's Heart and the Other-Mind

Evil from Within

nm983» It is because of the other-mind, that "man's heart is evil from his youth" (Gen 8:21). "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness" (Mark 7:21,22). "And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings out that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). It is out of the abundance of the heart of mankind that man acts. And in man's mind is the other-spirit which continuously feeds man with unsound thoughts.

nm984» This age is worse than many people think. False pride, false affections, false accusations, false documents, false theories, false love, false words, and so forth are so much a part of this age that most of us are somewhat unaware of the asininity and falsehood of this age. The great religions and theories of this age are built on the confusion of the other-mind and the falsehood of the other-mind.

Mind of this Age of Evil

nm985» According to the Bible the people of this age are the children of the devil (1John 3:10), children of disobedience (Eph 2:2), children of the wicked one (Mat 13:38), children of the world (Luke 16:8; 20:34), and so forth. The father of these children is the devil according to Jesus Christ (John 8:42-44). The people of this age are the children of confusion because their spiritual father is the great other-mind that lives and feeds negative flash-thoughts into the mind of mankind. So this is why we must be careful:

• Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God. (1John 4:1a)

New Mind for New Age of God

nm986» In the next age, the New Age, the spirit of the other-mind will be put out of man. For when the demons ("devils") or when the other-mind is cast out and locked up, "then the kingdom of God [the New Age] has come upon you" (Mat 12:28). "In that day" Jehovah will cause the unclean spirit or the other-mind to pass out of the land (Zech 13:2). "That day" is the New Age that is coming upon us. In the New Age people will be truly free from the other-mind because it will be put out of people's minds. The New Age begins at the physical return of the Messiah. See the New Mind Papers for more details.

See the "Reason Why" paper in the God Papers [GP 7] for the reason God put this other-mind into man in the beginning. See the God Papers to understand who or what is God and what will happen to the spiritual other-mind.

Review

nm987» There is a power of confusion and evil in our physical minds. We call this power the, "other-mind." It is a spiritual power that flashes negative thoughts into our minds. This spiritual power was placed in our minds at the beginning of the creation by the one called Jehovah. The "other-mind" didn't manifest itself as evil until a law was given by Jehovah, then the other-mind showed its evil nature. Ever since the beginning the other-mind has fed negative flash-thoughts into mankind's mind. Because of these invading thoughts, man has behaved often in a negative manner since the creation. But a New Age is coming when the other-mind will be put out of mankind's mind, and at that time an utopian system will begin.

nm988» With the knowledge of the other-mind, we can better understand our misbehavior in this age, and through understanding it we can better control it. The best way to control our misbehavior is to have the New Mind (see the But better still is to rid ourselves of the other-mind - the old mind - and obtain the New Mind. We wait for this to happen to us all.

End Note

1. Doesn't this seem to indicate that God knew an outsider ("who told you") influenced Adam and Eve?

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