By
H J B Corderoy
Brisbane,
Australia
To
beguile, mesmerise and hypnotize are all words describing the attempt by one
human mind to exert influence over another. Sometimes we might think of
hypnotism as beneficial or at best an entertainment. Often it is used with an
evil intent. To use a more modern concept, we could call the seeming effect a
conspiracy; a conspiracy of mortal mind to usurp the power of the only true
God.
In
Christian Science, this concept of animal magnetism is seen to be the vehicle
of mortal mind by which it facilitates and propagates sin, disease and death.
The concept appeared when mankind claimed to be as gods and turned away from
the one true God, the one divine Mind. Mankind determined that it was the
supreme intelligence. This situation, where there are many conflicting human
minds all claiming to be godlike, all with different and competing views, has
given rise to the chaos we see in the world today. But, as Christians, we know
that there is only one true God and that Jesus Christ has revealed to us that
we are His spiritual children.
“For
though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there
be gods many, and Lords many) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of
whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things, and we by him.” (I Cor. 8:5-6)
In
their attempt to be as gods, human minds have sort out many inventions and
continually try to impose their will either consciously or unconsciously on
others. As a result of this process of mesmerisation the woes of this world
have been spread from one mortal mind to another. This process continues apace
today with new diseases being 'discovered’ and talked about daily. Those mortal
minds who do not guard against such thoughts will find themselves involuntarily
victims of these false beliefs.
Many
people today would protest that some of the inventions of mankind are good.
Indeed they are, in a temporal sense. It is not the inventions we guard against
but the belief behind them. The belief that because man can invent these things
he must be the creator of everything; that he must be God; that there is no
spiritual man or eternal life. Of course we don't consciously think of
ourselves as being god, but this is the effect of not acknowledging the
absolute power of God and the existence of his kingdom. This is how mortal mind
would hold us in subjugation.
The
allegory of the temptation of mankind by the serpent in Genesis describes how
mortal mind lays claim to possession of this alleged power today. When we talk
about mortal mind we are really describing the aggregated effect of all the
self-centered human minds in the world. Whether it was Adam or Eve who first
succumbed to the temptation to taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge is of
no importance in metaphysical science. The singling out of Eve as the temptress
of Adam is an anachronism of the time which has been perpetuated by mortal mind
to this day. This conspiracy of mortal mind against women serves the
purposes of mortal mind to divide and conquer mankind. There is no classification of ideas (children
of God) in divine Mind as either male or female (Gal. 3:28, Gen. 1:27). Just as
God is neither male nor female, we, being created in his image and likeness,
are not male or female. This is an entirely human concept (S&H 516:30-31).
A concept first laid down in the second chapter of genesis by the Jewish tribal
god Jehovah and renounced by Jesus in Matt 22:30 when he said “For in the
resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the
angels in heaven”. That is, in our eternal life as the spiritual
ideas or children of God there is no such classification of male or female.
Before
we continue we ought to address a few other often overlooked forms of mesmerism
put about by mortal mind. We are often critical of the behaviour or actions of
others towards us and think badly of them. The Bible tells us that we
must turn the other cheek. But this does
not mean that we should do nothing about it. We must see this behaviour of
others for what it is; a provocation by mortal mind aimed at getting us to
respond and in so doing to acknowledge its claim to power. We must denounce
mortal mind for what it is: an imagining of mankind that “exalteth itself
against the knowledge of God”. (II Cor. 10:5)
We
often judge others for their sexuality, race, shape, colour or some other
difference from what we consider to be the norm. When we do this we are
involuntarily and unconsciously recognising that mortal mind is as real and as
powerful as God. It is a subtle form of
mesmerism by mortal mind aimed at keeping us under its control by compromising
us and pulling us down to its level. Think only goodly thoughts of those you
come into contact with and see them as God's perfect child if you would deny
the power of mortal mind.
Let
us look more closely at how this mesmerism by mortal mind came about.
Gen
2:17. “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Was
this the all-loving Father-Mother-God (divine Mind) threatening his errant
child or was it the Jewish tribal god, Jehovah talking? Would any loving
parent do this to their children. Or was it mortal mind, portrayed as the
man-like Jehovah, setting up a human
justification for what has happen to mankind since the garden of Eden? Was it
mortal mind putting the blame on someone else? God does not tempt nor
threaten his ideas; his children. James 1:13 “ …God cannot be tempted with
evil, neither tempteth he any man.” He does not need to threaten his
children because the man of God's making is of one mind with Him. Eve was
not to blame for the seeming fall from grace of mankind. God knows only good ('God
is of purer eyes than to behold evil', Habakkuk 1:13) Temptation and blame,
good and bad, are concepts and practices of mortal minds. The idea that God warned
man about good and bad is all part of the deception, the lie, the humanisation
of God, that seduced mankind into thinking that God was not all powerful.
Gen
3:4 & 5. “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be a gods, knowing good and evil.”
Now
we see the true intent of mortal mind. Like the modern day hypnotist, it says
‘look me in the eye and give me control of your mind and you will experience
all the pleasures of the world in return’. In today's world mortal mind more
commonly uses the threat of disease rather than a promise of riches and power
to hold us in subjugation. The concept of disease was created by mortal
mind itself when it claimed to be as powerful as God. Mortal mind is in a cycle
of self-deception, it is the lie and the
father of it (John 8:44). In our fear, we seek out temporary medical solutions
instead of addressing the cause by denying the power of mortal mind and
accepting only God as all-powerful.
So
when mortal mind first suggests to you that you have a disease deny the
suggestion immediately and say,’get thee behind me Satan’. Recognise
that it is an attempt by mortal mind to get you to admit that it has power over
you and to thereby involuntarily deny the absolute power of God.
Gen
3:13 “…...The serpent beguiled me . ..and I did eat….”
Everything
was perfect in God's creation until mankind was beguiled by mortal mind into
thinking that he could be as powerful and as knowledgeable as God. From
then on there were many gods all competing with each other for supremacy and
giving rise to the chaos, sin, disease and death that we see around us today.
The
serpent (mortal mind) promised only good times. It did not mention the bad
things that would accompany the attempted usurping of God's power. It told a
lie and beguiled mankind with the promise of power. We are still in that
hypnotic dream today, believing everything that happens to us is for real. If
we snap out of that dream we will see it for what it is.
In
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (S&H) 103:21-23, Mrs Eddy
says: “As named in Christian Science, animal magnetism or hypnotism is
the specific term for error, or mortal mind. It is the false belief that mind
is in matter, and is both evil and good; that evil is as real as good and more
powerful. This belief has not one quality of Truth. It is either ignorant or
malicious.”
Matt
4:10 “the devil saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if
thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
The
Bible tells us that Jesus was taken up into a high place and offered all the
world by mortal mind (Satan). Jesus saw this attempt by mortal mind to seduce
him for what it was and rejected it out of hand. Likewise, we must be careful
not to be seduced by the pleasures of this world by placing them before God in
importance in our lives.
Matt
16:22-24 “..... Jesus said unto Peter, Get thee behind me Satan: thou
art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but
those that be of men.”
When
Jesus told his disciples of what lay ahead of him, Peter, out of love for him,
suggested that he, Jesus, had the power to avoid his human enemies. Again,
Jesus saw this for what it was and rejected the suggestion. It was another
attempt by the mortal minds around him to mesmerise him and convince him that
there was path or power other than God's. The things that be of this life might
give momentary relief or pleasure but we are seeking the more permanent glory
of eternal life.
Peter
had only the best of intentions from a human point of view for suggesting this
course of action. But this is typical of the subtle forms of mesmerisation that
we face today. It appears to be good or the right thing to do to talk about
this disease or that illness that so-and-so has. But by doing so we are
propagating that very thing in our own and other’s minds. It is this
involuntary mesmerism due to ignorance of the Truth which we must guard against
every day.
Gal
3:1 “O Foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey
the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth,
crucified among you?”
How
can we fall for the tired old lie of mortal mind when we have the Truth before
us in the form of the teachings, the demonstrations and the resurrection of
Jesus Christ?
Gal
3:3 “Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are ye now made
perfect by the flesh?”
Are
you so foolish that you choose mortal mind over divine Mind; the imperfect
material body over the original creation of the spiritual man; and then think
that this will make you perfect? You are deceiving yourselves.
Gal
3:5 “He therefore that ministereth unto you the Spirit, and worketh
miracles among you , doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?”
Jesus
demonstrated the power of divine Mind and showed that the laws dreamed up by
mortal mind are of no account and in reality, powerless. How can you deny this
evidence of the truth? Faced with these proofs of God's power, whom should you put
your faith in, God or man; divine Mind or mortal mind?
Gal
3:9 “So they which be of the faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.”
Blessed
are they who accept divine Mind as the only power in their lives.
Gal
3:10 “For as many as are under the law are under the curse.”
Those that remain mesmerised by the seeming
power of mortal mind will experience the chaos and woes of the world.
Gal
3:26 “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
Paul,
in his usual forthrightness and perspicacity, sets out for the Galatians and
for us today, how we should be thinking to counteract this conspiracy of
mortal mind which would enslave us. He reminds us that we were created as
spiritual ideas of God but have now foolishly believed the promises of mortal
mind and that we can be as gods ourselves ‘made perfect by the flesh’. Are
you ‘so foolish’ that you cannot see that, by its every origin, the
flesh will never make you perfect.
Jesus,
by his teachings and demonstrations, proved that if we are governed by the law
of divine Mind we will be perfect. Whereas, if we live under the laws
that mankind has created and propagates
through its wish to be god-like, we will be cursed with sin, disease and death.
We will be far from being ‘made perfect by the flesh’. Perfection only
comes through day-by-day spiritualisation of thought; through prayer.
S&H
402:30-33 “The involuntary pleasure or pain of the person under hypnotic
control is proved to be a belief without a real cause.”
This
pain or pleasure disappears when the hypnotic trance is broken. If we break
this trance and ’awake’ from the ‘Adam dream’ of mind in matter we will be seen
to be whole and eternal.
S&H
403:1-2 “So the sick through their beliefs have induced their own diseased
condition.”
Mortal
mind has beguiled us involuntarily and often unconsciously into believing we
are sick. We consequently express the expected symptoms in our bodies. The
spiritual man in harmony with God is never sick! He can't be mesmerised by the
erroneous thoughts of the mortal minds around him.
II
Cor 11:3 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ.”
Paul
repeats his warning that we should not let mortal mind hypnotise us so that we
believe in it’s power rather than the simple Truth taught and practiced by
Jesus: namely, that there is only one all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving
God. This is the key to eternal life, glorious in its simplicity.
Rom
7:23 “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin.”
Paul
again warns us to be vigilant in this war against mortal mind and it's hypnotic
and captivating influence. To succumb to its suggestions results in sin,
sickness and death being manifested on the material man. We need to be vigilant
that we do not accept these suggestions ourselves and that we do not
unwittingly transfer them to those around us.
S&H
403:14-20 “You command the situation if you understand that mortal
existence is a state of self-deception and not the truth of being. Mortal mind
is constantly producing on the mortal body the results of false opinions; and
it will continue to do so, until the mortal error is deprived of its imaginary
powers by Truth, which sweeps away the gossamer web of mortal illusion.”
Eph
5:14 “....Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and
Christ shall give thee light.”
Awake
from the hypnotic dream of mortal mind and it's worldly false and beguiling
promises, arise from those who are dead to the Christ. Sweep away the
cobwebs of the dream that ends in death and let the light of truth into your
life.
Isaiah
8:12 “Say ye not, a confederacy (conspiracy), to all whom these
people shall say, a conspiracy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.”
Mortal
mind's hold over us is an hypnotic conspiracy about our health, our state of
mind, our social interactions and the existence of one all-powerful God. These
false ideas multiply and spread from one mortal mind to the next. Each one
reinforcing the hypnotic state that holds us in the power of mortal mind. We
must not be afraid to break this hypnotic state of mind and ‘awake’ to the
glorious possibilities of divine Mind.
I
Cor 2:2 “ For I am determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus
Christ, and him crucified.”
We
must make a determined effort to deny the power of mortal mind and to
acknowledge only the truth as taught and demonstrated by Jesus Christ.
Finally,
let us return to Paul's eloquent summary of the Truth:
I
Cor 8: 5 & 6 “For though there be that are called gods, whether in
heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is
but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”
The
first sentence sums up what is wrong with the world today and the second is the
solution, the 'simplicity that is in Christ’: One God, one Father
and one Christ by which we are one in God. All things are made by God and we
exist in him. Jesus Christ is the example of the perfect child of God.
We, by the Christ, may regain eternal life in God, divine Mind. It is so
breathtakingly simple! No scholastic
arguments or learned tomes required.
Amen.
