I was asked by a cyber friend to give my opinion regarding the mind and the brain, the mind and the body, and the role genetics plays in the psychological makeup of individuals.
The first point I'd like to make is that the mind and the brain are not the same. The brain is part of the body. It is an organ like other organs in the body. It is part of the material world.
The mind is not part of the material world. The mind is not housed in the brain. The mind has no specific location. It is not confined to time or space. It is unlimited in its creative power.
Our body is limited. Our body has no creative power. Our body does our mind's bidding. It does this when it gets sick, recovers from illnesses, gets old, and dies. All of this happens first in the mind, at an unconscious level.
When our body is sick, it is our mind that has generated the problem, and, therefore, it is our mind we must look to for the solution. In other words, "Only the mind can be sick and only the mind is in need of healing." This is a quote from "A Course In Miracles," which presents a thought system I believe in.
The question you're now asking yourself is: "Where is the proof upon which he bases this belief?"
When some people who are depressed are given a placebo and told it is an antidepressant, their depression goes away, including their loss of appetite, their difficulty sleeping, their impaired attention and concentration, their loss of interest in things they like to do, and their somatic problems as well, such as headaches, stomach aches, muscle tension, and other physical discomforts. How can this be?
When some people who have chronic pain are hypnotized, their pain nerve fibers in their body are still firing like crazy, but there is no perceived pain. How can this be?
When some people use hypnosis while getting root canal without anesthesia, they experience no pain. How can this be?
When some women use hypnosis to undergo C-sections to deliver their babies without anesthesia, they experience no pain. How can this be?
When some people with cancers use guided imagery to visualize cancer cells being gobbled up by an army of white blood cells, their cancers go into remission. How can this be?
When some people focus their mind using biofeedback techniques, they are able to manage their pain, lower their blood pressure, and lower their heart rate. How can this be?
When some people use affirmations and visualizations to mobilize the Law of Attraction, positive outcomes are generated in their physical world. How can this be?
The reason why all these things occur is because everything starts in the mind. The mind is the prime mover. We create our reality from our thoughts.
Everything in the physical world is an illusion generated by the Collective Mind, including our bodies. Long ago, we hypnotized ourselves into believing that we are bodies and that our bodies can be sick and die. And then we forgot that we did this.
And so, now, we identify with our bodies. And because our bodies are frail, get diseased, get old and die, we embrace fear at the core of our unconsciousness.
From that fear comes every perception we have in the world of scarcity, lack, limitation and separation, and the need for competition and aggression as a means to survive and succeed. And from all of this comes every negative emotion we experience, including depression, anxiety, and anger.
Were we to use our conscious mind to override our negativity by replacing our fear thoughts with thoughts of unconditional love, acceptance, forgiveness, and unity, all the manifestations of our fear would go away, our mind would be restored to sanity, peace and joy, our body would be restored to perfect health, and our world would reflect abundance and prosperity.
Our ego mind, that unconscious part of our mind that houses our fear, is already telling you that this is absurd and that only a naïve fool would endorse a philosophy that love can conquer all the evils in the world.
It is reminding you that nice guys finish last, that no good deed goes unpunished, that survival of the fittest means an eye for an eye, kill or be killed, and that no one can defend themselves with love.
Certainly, as long we believe in bodies, as long as we identify with our ego mind, which is devoted to preserving the idea that bodies are real, and as long as we are unaware that everything we now see is a figment of our fear thoughts, it would be insane to not defend ourselves when we are attacked, and to not take antibiotics when we get sick.
The point is this: We must change the way we think. We must stop being victims of our bodies and realize the power of our minds to create reality.
The first step in this process is to heal our mind by letting go of judgments as best we can, by accepting others as best we can, by letting go of resentments and grievances as best we can, by forgiving others as best we can, by being of service to others as best we can, and by extending compassion and unconditional love to others as best we can.
As we do this, we will see gradual improvements in our lives, in the form of greater happiness, well-being, and material success.
As to the role genetics plays in our psychological makeup: As long as we believe we are bodies, genetics will be a powerful force influencing our emotional as well as our physical reality. Brain illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, and personality disorders run in families. They have a genetic component.
However, when we get real good at releasing our judgments and attack thoughts, giving no power to the illusions of fear, and focusing instead on unconditional love, acceptance and forgiveness, we will transcend genetics and all bodily limitations.
