Mind Control: As a Man Thinketh
2. The Cosmism Manifesto
We are ready for the next brick in this paradigm construction quest to ‘[bring] into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5, see Introduction and Testimony).
Now that our Cornerstone has been established, let’s begin with a Tabula Rasa or a blank slate and foundation as to our conception of ‘mind control’. We must build from the ground up. We’ll eventually get to the cosmic stuff - I promise - but I have learned that we’ve got to clean the inner vessel before we can truly seek to integrate the mystery and outer vessel layers. Do the good job on your foundation. No cheating.
Hear me now as I will repeat this throughout in different ways. In my Nephite plainness: Mind control is fundamentally the righteous exercise of faith in Christ unto real repentance.
I feel compelled to begin by sharing with you how I first naturally became aware of the power of thought, imagination, and the mind in my life. Bear with me, this will all come back together again eventually as I reconstruct an understanding of ‘mind control’ in the context of building a restored Gospel ‘theory of everything’.
THE PATTERN
It is taught in the scriptures and I have learned by experience that it is through repetitious cycles of tested faith in Christ and repentance that we wrestle control of our minds and the desires of our hearts. We exercise faith, we repent - then we receive a witness. This has been my experience.
This is the pattern and cycle of the engine of spiritual gifts:
Real Faith - decisions to seek input from Christ / the action / ‘always remember Him’
This pattern should ring familiar because it’s not new; it’s the constant recycling of the first principles of the Gospel and another iteration of what we typically refer to as ‘the pride cycle’. This pattern is evident throughout Israel’s history, both in the Old World and here in the Americas. This recurring cycle that ‘underlies the rise and fall of nations’ also underlies the rise and fall of individuals.
I believe that this is fundamentally how we control our thoughts > and subsequently our actions > and ultimately our character. It is through the persistent working of this cycle that we are enlarged in wisdom - this is the mental micro-transaction that continuously drives our eternal progress in an upward trajectory along the covenant path.
When speaking about spiritual gifts and a pattern of manifesting them, I want to be clear that I am including all gifts - not just the ones I might articulate a little about here. I encourage you to keep present in your mind the gifts that you know that you are blessed with, or the gifts that you desire to seek, and meditate on how these ideas may help you to better cultivate and manifest them in your life.
THE BUBBLE: A GIFT
I have always been gifted with a vivid and powerful imagination. I can teleport myself into sacred gardens and secret realms, or onto floating castles amidst cosmic cascades. As a youth, I needed it. It was a protection and an escape for me. My upbringing was plagued with intermittent abuse and trauma - and it was during the hard times that my imagination could often create a cocoon of consciousness, a bubble of sorts that could isolate certain layers of my sensory perception. I could block out certain noises and frequencies altogether. In that moment as a youth, it was all just automatic to me - a true gift of the Spirit from God that allowed my childhood to be blessed in abundance with vibrantly positive memories forged as diamonds amidst the friction and fire of incredible circumstantial pressures.
One practical example of this ‘gift’ that I remember vividly (among many) was in 8th grade at my inner city “no child left behind”-experiment public school. The teacher was Ms. Browning and it was the final hour of a long day. She usually ended her lesson officially about 10 minutes before the final bell would ring to give the class some free time. This allowed me plenty of time to pull out and complete much of my homework that had been assigned for the day. So as soon as she would give the class the ‘okay’ - I was totally focused and in ‘my zone’, my bubble.
I was highly motivated by my recent total immersion in the role-playing game Final Fantasy 7 for PlayStation that had just come out - but I could only play the PlayStation at home once all of my homework and chores had been completed for the day. So I wanted to efficiently use all of my available time away from home to ensure maximum gaming time was available once I got there.
“How are you doing this?”
At first, her question was like a muted trumpet - like the Charlie Brown voice for adults. I looked up in surprise at Ms. Browning standing over my desk and she repeated,
“How are you doing this?”
I was confused and thought I was in trouble.
I timidly asked, “doing what?”
She looked back at me with what seemed like even more surprise than I felt - and then I saw her gaze around the room. She said,
“How are you doing your homework, when THIS is happening?” - she gestured to look around.
It was like a dusty switch was flipped ‘on’ in my awareness and my force field of focus dropped. Like a stereo at full volume that had for a time been silenced - the sounds and reality of the classroom returned to life with ear-shattering oppression. I saw a paper airplane fly. Some kids were energetically shouting and wrestling, others singing, and a few were pounding on their desks and making a beat. It was chaos. Yet I was calm and focused on my homework with my head down.
How did I do that? I don’t remember what I told Ms. Browning. But I know that it was a gift of the Spirit and that my thoughts and heart and intents at that time in my life were pure and righteous. I loved the Lord and wanted to do the right thing. It was a Gift of the Spirit that I had exercised in faith and that He had granted me in his infinite love and mercy. I know this now.
How do I know this?
Because as I grew older and experienced my own cycles of pride, as I strayed away from the covenant path and ventured into the mists of darkness as a teen for a time in rebellion (and again later in life) - my mind became polluted with sinful behavior and all manner of vain imaginations and inverted and selfish desires. My mind grew into an untamed garden when it once was a vibrant refuge of protection and power. My light had grown dim. I ignorantly and naively thought that I could hide from God or justify my innermost sins of thought. As if he didn’t know me. As if he doesn’t hear them.
The powerful gifts of thought and learning and focus that I once enjoyed - no longer came easily. I knew in my heart that I had lost them.
This is where in my life, the natural laws of mind control and the pattern of exercising spiritual gifts were first powerfully manifested. I felt the weight of the consequences of my careless and idol thoughts tremendously. The memory of the peace and freedom and protection that I so abundantly enjoyed when within my bubble of the Spirit was still a fresh and painful reminder - it provided a stark comparison to my then-troubled mind. While the disappointment was real, I also felt (or maybe I just hoped) within my heart that I could gain my spiritual gifts back. I knew that I needed to repent, to turn back to my state of purity and internal cleanliness.
Remember:
Real Faith
True Repentance
Divine Witness
Repeat
DIVINE WITNESSES - THE FRUITS OF REPENTANCE
I began the rigorous work of reversing this trend as I approached 19 years of age and prepared to serve a mission. That was the only thing I had on my mind at the time. I wanted to be outwardly ‘approved’ to get into the mission field, and then I figured I could buckle down and fix everything else. It took a year of discipline and humility and major re-prioritization of what was important to me. In hindsight, I can clearly see how my first attempt at repentance then before my mission, though genuine - it was not entire or complete. It was a superficial repentance in the literal sense that, I was not outwardly participating in the evils I had confessed and sought to eliminate - but inwardly I was still justifying sinful thoughts and I wasn’t even fully aware of it until later. I wasn’t cleaning the full vessel.
During this period of repentance leading up to my mission, the Lord began to bless me. I was making decent money at a tire shop and had a snazzy car and a loud stereo, and then I met my future wife. She was an Angel sent from God to continue to motivate me to get my act together as she was a pure soul that inspired me to want to be worthy of her companionship and of her hand in a Temple marriage.
How we met is a wonderful story for another day, but I witness our introduction as a fruit of a diligent desire and effort to repent and prepare my heart for eternity - I was at the right place at the right time, and the Lord had led me there. Still, in my youthful mind of uncertainty - this all gave me pause and opened a sincere question in my mind as to whether I wanted to really leave for 2 years and serve a mission.
I found myself late at night near the end of the summer in 2004, trying to quietly enter my room without alerting my parents after a date with Chelsey. The physical layout of our home at the time was such that I had to walk down and through a dark hallway and into my room in total darkness to reach the light switch on the opposite side of the room.
Did I really want to leave all of these things behind for 2 whole years? My new girlfriend, my job, my car, my friends, my family, my comfort… to go and preach and to seek to convert others to my religion? Did I even believe in my religion enough to ask others to change their entire lives to join mine? Did I believe in Jesus Christ? Did I believe in The Book of Mormon stories, that my mother taught to me? Did I believe in all the Primary songs when they exclaimed that “I am a Child of God” or that “He hears and answers every child's prayer” — does he do that for me? Can I really go out into the world and say that “I KNOW” any of this?
I stood there in the darkness, realizing that I had never really thought about these things before in this way. I remember that I was even looking down and furrowing my brow in the muted silence of the night.
Then the silence broke. I heard a voice that sounded familiarly just like mine but it was different - it resonated in my whole being with much more volume and force than the previous flurry of concerned questions that had reached a mental crescendo.
“You have always known”
This repeated at the same volume in my mind and heart, 3 times. After the third time, an added “duh!” was added and I began to be filled will warmth and a wide grin began to form across my face. I began to smile and internally chuckled at myself for even having posed such questions of doubt. Memories of spiritual experiences and positive Gospel-related lessons from my life flooded my mind. I had always wanted to go and serve a mission for the Lord (I saw it as an adventure and a coming-of-age test that I intended on getting an ‘A’ on) - I was then more determined than ever.
I did not realize it at the time - but this was a direct answer from the Spirit to me, speaking to my mind and heart in a way that I would understand and respond to. It was a year or two later when I was actually on my mission that I realized and recorded such a sacred spiritual experience and manifestation. Despite my estate (18-year-old me) still being only partially cleaned and prepared - the Lord was leading and guiding me, his arm outstretched always. I was pointing in the right direction and trying my best, I was worthy in the struggle with my flaws - I still am - we all still are.2
God's grace is good.
A DREAM: THE DOORMAN
In the fall of that same year, 2004, before my last interview with my Stake President to submit my mission papers - I had a dream.
I recorded this dream on May 11, 2005 - the following summer on my mission in Tuxtla-Gutierrez, Chiapas Mexico. Here’s what I wrote that day:
“11 de Mayo, 2005
Well today was great. Elder Ortiz is great and I know we will work hard and get a lot done in the next few weeks.
La Hermana Chepita who lives next door (I love Hermana, feel like she’s my grandmother) was telling me about some dreams she had before meeting the Church. How she saw Jesus - well she said someone - in a red robe with his arms stretched, welcoming, descending from the Heavens on a carpet of clouds. This dream reminded me of the dream I had. I’m an idiot for not writing it down yet, but I will now.
It was about 1 1/2 weeks before I was to have my final interview with President Davis before they sent out my papers for the mission. I remember very well, it was one of those dreams that just seem soooo real, to the point where you are confused, and you can’t tell if you are dreaming or not.
I was sleeping on the second floor or a loft of a strange house, I think of it as a “Joseph Smith” house - made out of logs, wood everywhere - when I was woken up by someone saying, almost screaming,
“WAKE UP! Wake up, they/we need your help!”
And I jumped out of the bed and went down stairs, it was a big room (still made out of logs) and there was a chorro (a big flow, lol) of people walking around confused, almost desperate and they were all saying things like, “Where is it?! He said there were new scriptures!” and they were all flipping through the Bible or other books looking for more pages or something.
Among the people I recognized [a lot of them] but didn’t see my mom yet. As I was standing in the midst of all them, listening to their cries and feeling a sense of desperation for them - I felt something strong, a feeling of peace and happiness and I looked up and saw a door and instantly I knew.
[I want to interject that the door was as an outline of light - like that of a door with bright light emanating from the other side viewed from our dark perspective in the open room of the cabin]
I started to run to the door and I was yelling to everyone,
“You’re looking in the wrong place, we need to go here, He’s HERE!”
And I remember opening the door and seeing something that I don’t ever want to forget, for this reason I write these things.
I saw Jesus, in the same position Sister Chepita saw him, the same position he is in all the visitor centers of the Temples, lovingly welcoming. I remember looking at him and being filled with joy, and I saw my mom, and she was already in the room at the feet of Jesus.
I will never forget how real that was.
I woke up after that point in the middle of the night sweating, my heart was beating and I was scared. I didn’t know what happened. The only people I have told are Chelsey, my parents, and President Davis. I told Chels first, and when I told Pres. Davis, it was during the interview and I can’t remember if I was crying or not when I told him, but after I finished - he looked at me straight in the eyes and said,
“Now I know that was something from Heavenly Father, because I could feel the Spirit as you spoke”.
He then told me to be careful with who I told that to and shared a scripture with me (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:16-17) and it sent shivers down my spine and I know I felt the Spirit. He then told me it was a confirmation of the importance of my mission.
To find and help the lost find the door, help them come to Cristo.
-Elder Tanner
I am a doorman - and my intent has always been to be as such, to point others to where they can find the Lord. I don’t share this sacred experience and dream out of a blatant disregard for my Stake President’s wise counsel - I have felt compelled to share, I have felt compelled with urgency to testify in power, that now is the time for me to ‘wake up’ and share my vision.
Now is the time for me to point to the door in a new kind of way.
Remember:
Real Faith
True Repentance
Divine Witness
Repeat
The voice repeated three times, the doorman dream - these were real fruits of the Spirit, these were divine witnesses given to me as a product of my ongoing repentance and desired trajectory. I know that these things are true because I have lived them.
So the cycle repeated.
ELDERS QUORUM: WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?
I got my mission call to Mexico and was preparing to leave at the beginning of December 2004. I remember that it was a Sunday in November when I was particularly tempted to ditch the 2nd and 3rd hours of Church - that I didn’t and I made the conscious decision and effort to attend my meetings and prepare my mind for two years of teaching Church things.
I remember it was Brother Johns who was teaching in Elders Quorum and I sat near the back. He had a box full of little books it looked like he was prepared to hand out. He began the lesson by writing something on the board that profoundly affected my life. He wrote,
“Have you ever stopped to think about what it is that you actually think about?”
I entered right then into a mesmerized mind-state to think about what I was thinking about and I was a bit overwhelmed with the symphony of competing thoughts I instantly became aware of. I performed the internal thought experiment and I felt naked and embarrassed though I sat perfectly still and fully clothed in the back of the class. For the first time - I realized how I had not taken careful inventory or control of my mind.
Brother Johns gave an entire lesson on submitting our will to God by controlling our inner vessels; our thoughts, and our passions. He gave us all a copy of James Allen’s timeless classic, ‘As a Man Thinketh’. I saw it as a curious thing and committed myself to read it - it was a short book after all. Later - this book would transform my life for the better. It introduced principles and concepts and techniques or tools of action that I could take and directly apply to my life and my ongoing repentance. It was another opportunity to engage the ‘cycle of spiritual gifts’ and exercise my faith unto real repentance.
But I didn’t read it entirely before I left and arrived at the MTC. I took it with me though.
The story continues like this:
I arrived at the MTC in December of 2004 and I am instantly in awe and reverence for the Spirit that is held and maintained throughout the entire campus and the routine of missionary training life. To be with so many like-minded young men, all sacrificing so much to serve the Lord and grow in faith and testimony, to feel the prayers of millions of other Saints and the responsibility of a call from the Lord and his Prophet - it was overwhelming.
I began to feel unworthy. I began to feel a desire to truly be clean in a non-superficial kind of way, but I felt so lost and already like a failure in this regard, I felt like I had cheated to get myself into the MTC, and seeds of doubt began to sprout in my mind. I didn’t just want to be there just ‘for show’ - I could tell that I wasn’t going to be able to fake becoming a real missionary for the Lord and testify with any convincing spiritual power. This crooked juxtaposition of what I felt was my personal worthiness and the true requirements of the honest task at hand as a missionary ate away deeply at me. I knew that if I told the truth about how I was feeling and confessed to leadership, I could likely be sent home for discipline and as a failure, and then everyone would laugh at or hate me at home, and my girlfriend would dump me - and… and...
All of that was there in my mind. But I felt the fear of God.
So a few weeks into my MTC experience, one Sunday I decided I would meet with my MTC Branch President and confess my sins of thought and other things that were bugging me in my dejected state. I was prepared to be sent home. But before I could even begin to unload the confession that I had carefully thought out in my mind the night before - President Killian cut me off and said,
“Elder Tanner - have you taken this up with the Lord?”
…
I was baffled - and I think through teary eyes I laughed and said, “What?”
He continued,
“Have you prayed and asked the Lord for forgiveness for what you are about to tell me?”
I responded that I had not… I hadn’t even thought of that actually. This is crazy, but it was the truth - not once had I truly, in prayer - sought the Lord’s forgiveness for the things that were troubling my heart at this time. I had just assumed that I needed to go through the ecclesiastical motions of repentance that I was so accustomed to deceptively flattering in my earlier days of rebellion. But now with flashing lights - the Lord was inviting me to repent and change on the deeper level that I was beginning to feel was necessary for my growth and quest as a divine Son of God. I was starting the cycle of Faith and Repentance over again - I was being asked to exercise faith and pray and ask God for forgiveness, I was being invited to synthesize that answer through repentance and to seek a divine witness.
So that very evening I waited until all my dorm companions were sleeping - then I crept out of my bed and knelt and prayed to the Lord with all of my heart. With tears of hope, I plead with the Lord and confessed to him all my troubles, and I also confessed to him all my righteous desires. I told him that I desired that if there was a way that he could forgive me, and let me serve an honorable and full-term mission, I would dedicate my time and internal conversation to cleaning up my thoughts - even to bring every thought unto trying to be the best missionary that I could become. I finished my prayer and lay back down in bed and began to wait. I knew I was waiting for an answer, but I didn’t know what to expect - I really wasn’t expecting an Angel and I wasn’t even hoping for the lights to flicker or any overt sign like that… I don’t know - I was just waiting.
After what seemed like a good minute or two - I all of a sudden began to feel a wave of happiness and joy rest gently upon me like a warm and freshly washed sheet of light and peace. I couldn’t control the smile that began to take over my face, from ear to ear I was beaming in the night - I felt the love of God embrace me. I knew that this was a fruit of the Spirit of God, there was no doubt in my mind. I didn’t hear any voices or see any dreams this time, but I had a million positive thoughts flood my mind - all of them encouraging me, that I was worthy and called to serve a mission, that I was forgiven of my sins, and that the Lord would hold me to my promise - and that I could do it. I had received my divine witness.
It was then time to repeat the cycle and get to work.
Remember:
Real Faith
True Repentance
Divine Witness
Repeat
Let’s now dive deeper into this foundation and control center of our actions and faith, our thoughts. How was I going to follow through on my promise? How can we all wrestle better control of our thoughts in order to make more righteous decisions more consistently? I was led to learn as much as I could about controlling my own thoughts so that the Lord could inspire me and help me to reprogram my own desires and character. I then began my study of the book I had brought with me from the Elders Quorum lesson I described earlier. ‘As a Man Thinketh’, by James Allen.
AS A MAN THINKETH
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he - Proverbs 23:7
I have been tempted to just read this entire book at this point - but for now, I am going to read only a few selections and summarize some of my favorite points from the book that will be pertinent to our objective of understanding mind control in a Gospel-centered paradigm.
You can read this book for free here.
A poem at the beginning of the book reads:
Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,
And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes
The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:—
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking-glass.
I want to begin by reading the Forward and the first Chapter on Thought and Character entirely.
FORWARD:
THIS little volume (the result of meditation and experience) is not intended as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written-upon subject of the power of thought. It is suggestive rather than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that—
"They themselves are makers of themselves."
by virtue of the thoughts, which they choose and encourage; that mind is the master-weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness.
This effort is the Law of the Harvest in constant action. We reap what we sow.
The main takeaway I want all who read or listen to this to have is that our thoughts are the root and foundation of our character. Our thoughts influence what we say > and what we say influences how we act > our actions form habits > and our habits, those things that we repeatedly do form our character. So since our goal is to emulate the attributes and character of Jesus Christ - we must then turn our faith and attention first to our thoughts and our desires.
President David O. McKay likes to quote the following:3
Sow a thought, reap an act; Sow an act, reap a habit; Sow a habit, reap a character; Sow a character, reap an eternal destiny
If my hope is to ever share my own Eternal Paradigm which is centered on our eternal destiny to be co-heirs with Christ - then it makes good sense to begin with the seeds of our thoughts.
Here’s the first chapter:
THOUGHT AND CHARACTER:
THE aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those, which are deliberately executed.
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
"Thought in the mind hath made us, What we are
By thought was wrought and built. If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind......If one endure
In purity of thought, joy follows him
As his own shadow—sure."
Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favour or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harbouring of grovelling thoughts.
Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.
Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this—that man is the master of thought, the moulder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
Man is always the master, even in his weaker and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his "household." When he begins to reflect upon his condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues.
Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self analysis, and experience.
Only by much searching and mining, are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being, if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul; and that he is the maker of his character, the moulder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove, if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, and utilizing his every experience, even to the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that "He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened;" for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.
This should give you a taste of the kind of nuggets and pearls of wisdom you will find as you study this text yourself. The Gospel parallels will shout loudly at you as read with the intent to capture your thoughts unto the template of Christ.
Here are some summary slides for each of the 7 Chapters in the book - yes - I think this is that important:
“… Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.” (D&C 121:45)
WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR THOUGHTS
I know that I am in good company when I recommend and spend so much time speaking of this book and the ideas and concepts that it promotes. Why? Just type in the phrase ‘as a man thinketh’ into the Gospel Library app and you will find that all of the above concepts have been utilized and shared in an abundance of conference talks and counsels from modern Prophets and Apostles and General Authorities.
President Spencer W. Kimball even included a full chapter in A Miracle of Forgiveness entirely titled “As a Man Thinketh”. I highly recommend a review of this Chapter and the quotes and scriptures that he uses to support his commentary.
One idea from that chapter that I feel is important to reiterate here is that we are and will be accountable to God for our words and our thoughts. So seeking to change them and rectify or make them more righteous is a foundational part of our divine quest, especially considering our thoughts are the seeds of our actions.
We read in Matthew 12:33-37 how the Lord makes clear that a man’s words are a reflection of his inward treasure - either to justify him or to condemn him,
33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Alma takes it the next step and also witnesses that our thoughts will condemn us in Alma 12:14-15, he points us back to the cycle/pattern of thought-control and of spiritual gifts as faith and repentance,
14 For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence.
15 But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.
Let’s revisit the cycle of the maintenance of spiritual gifts (enduring to the end) in the light now of all we’ve discussed so far:
Real Faith - decisions to seek input from Christ, to learn more of him and his Gospel / the action / ‘always remember Him’ - we have control over our thoughts
True Repentance - righteous synthesis of input/experience, submit our will, change by degrees - add another layer of understanding
Divine Witness - confirmations from the Holy Ghost, manifestations of spiritual gifts and fruits.
Repeat (seek more input from Christ - who gives in layers - we continue to build our Temple of knowledge)
Mind control is fundamentally the righteous exercise of faith in Christ unto real repentance. We are literally talking about the control of your mind, your thoughts. Mind control is a function, an action - something that is performed.
At its core, to me, it is the foundational intersection of the principles of Faith and of Agency and the heart and the mind.
Let’s define a few terms (Faith, Agency, Doctrine) now according to a sound baseline and anchor to our target Cornerstone (The Doctrine of Christ).
AGENCY
What is agency?
It is the ability and privilege God gives people to choose and act for themselves. A paired concept with ‘agency’ is ‘adversity’ or ‘the law of opposition’, for “it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11). For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction - those actions are an exercise in faith.
FAITH
So what is faith?
Let’s bring in the Lectures on Faith to help bolster our definition of faith and bring it to its principal location as the focus of our topic on mind control.
“[Faith] must be the principle of action in all intelligent beings”
and
“We understand that when a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force: it is by words instead of exerting his physical powers, with which every being works when he works by faith-”
—
So it is by faith that we control our minds and when we endeavor to control our thoughts we exercise faith. It is by mental exertion that we wrestle with and sow the actions that we speak into existence.
We justify and build our thoughts according to a sure foundation, a blueprint that we call “the Doctrine of Christ”.
DOCTRINE
What is doctrine? It is the sacred revealed truth upon which we base our actions. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ given from God to his Children for their ‘edification’ (a word that implies the building up of an ‘edifice’, our personal Temple).
Elder D. Todd Christofferson offers a wonderful summary of the ‘core’ Doctrine of Jesus Christ,
Jesus Himself defined that doctrine in these words recorded in the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ:
“This is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.
“And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.
“And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.
“… And whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost. …
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them” (3 Nephi 11:32–35, 39).
This is our message, the rock upon which we build, the foundation of everything else in the Church. Like all that comes from God, this doctrine is pure, it is clear, it is easy to understand—even for a child.
With glad hearts, we invite all to receive it. 4
Here’s the whole talk:
Now that we have sufficiently defined Agency, Faith and Doctrine, let me re-frame them all in the context of mind control. So again, at its core, mind control as we have been discussing it, is the intersection of the principles of Faith and of Agency according to the Doctrine of Christ. We use our agency to take action (faith) and bring our thoughts into obedience to the Doctrine of Christ.
DOCTRINAL FOUNDATION V. INDOCTRINATION
If you go to Wikipedia right now you will see that mind control is only portrayed in the negative. It redirects to brainwashing, a term that is commonly only used to direct the mind to consider involuntary and coercive mind control techniques and efforts.
But as we know and have been discussing, this is only half the story.
What I am delineating here is that we must awaken to realize that mind control and brainwashing work both ways, both voluntarily and involuntarily, both willingly and unwillingly, both righteously and unrighteously.
If you don’t actively wash and program your own mind - someone else is trying to, and they will eventually succeed.
Let’s call good mind control Righteous Mind Control [RMC].
This is the voluntary submission of will (faith) according to a doctrinal foundation
Let’s call bad mind control Unrighteous Mind Control [UMC].
This is the involuntary submission of will according to deceptive indoctrination
The constant goal of all mind control is that the target enters into a ‘suggestible’ mental state so that new information can be introduced with the intent to influence the actions and decisions of the individual(s).
The ultimate purpose of UMC is to become subject to another’s will. To have no real agency or control over one’s own thoughts. To become possessed by some other spirit(s). This ‘washing/programming’ empties out and isolates the square completely and is carried out through deception and by the subversion of mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional associations.
40 For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.
41 Therefore, if a man bringeth forth good works he hearkeneth unto the voice of the good shepherd, and he doth follow him; but whosoever bringeth forth evil works, the same becometh a child of the devil, for he hearkeneth unto his voice, and doth follow him.
42 And whosoever doeth this must receive his wages of him; therefore, for his wages he receiveth death, as to things pertaining unto righteousness, being dead unto all good works.
NOTE: I will go into more detail about UMC in other essays - we’ll explore topics like MKUltra and the drug war, Operation Mockingbird, Propaganda, and murder/suicide cults - for now, I want to solely focus on the righteous application of mind control. Just keep in mind that there is opposition in all things, especially in the use of psychological techniques and tools. Any opportunity that Satan can get to influence and manipulate the agency of man is at the top of his priority list.
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Remember, the constant goal of all mind control, good or bad, is that the target enters into a ‘suggestible’ mental state so that new information can be introduced with the intent to influence the actions and decisions of the individual(s).
In RMC, that new information received while in a 'suggestible state' is revelation from God. It is conveyed by the Revelator, the Holy Ghost. The ultimate goal is to “grow into the principle of revelation”5 so that our will is totally swallowed up into the will of the Father.6 This is the goal of a Zion people - to be of 'one heart and of one mind, and [to dwell] in righteousness' (Moses 7:18). The goal is to walk with the Lord as Enoch7 in the light, to ‘always have his spirit’ to be with us and to bring every thought unto obedience8, etc. It is an integrated harmonization of all associations in stark contrast to the 'dissociation' induced by coercive mind control efforts.
RMC is total mind control, where the spirit has control over the flesh - the square (flesh/body) is circled (spirit/light).
This was the power given to Nephi in Helaman 10:4-5,
4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.
5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.
He sought the Father’s will - just as Christ.
He would not ask for that which is contrary to the Father’s will - just as Christ.
With examples from Prophets like Nephi and using Jesus Christ as the ultimate example - we can identify how it is possible to accomplish this goal of RMC and to be in a righteously ‘suggestible’ mind state through the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.
HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE / FAITH AND REPENTANCE
I will point out with the scriptures that it is through humility and real obedient submission of will (implying true and real intent; mind + heart) to Christ that we can maintain our spiritual sensitivity to the voice of revelation and consistently ‘wash our brain/mind’ in truth and light from the Lord.
I would add that what I am pointing out here with the focus on humility and obedience can also be described in the same manner or in the same breath as the cycle of maintaining spiritual gifts that I have been repeating. To have faith and to repent (humility and obedience), then to receive a witness and an endowment of revelation - repeat and endure.
In Matthew 18:4,
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
(to me this is humble as in submissive and suggestive - eager to learn and emulate/obey)
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. [voluntary submission of will]
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Doctrine and Covenants 136: 32-33,
32 Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear;
33 For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite [repentant], and to the condemnation of the ungodly.
Doctrine and Covenants 112:10,
10 Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers. [Revelation!]
26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
33 And in the fifty and first year of the reign of the judges there was peace also, save it were the pride [opposite of humility] which began to enter into the church—not into the church of God, but into the hearts of the people who professed to belong to the church of God—
34 And they were lifted up in pride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction.
35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.
15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Let’s recap what I’m getting at here.
When we exercise RMC, we use our agency to choose to have a doctrinal foundation centered on Christ that we willingly shape and build our worldview around. We consciously choose to become subject to God’s will over our own and we seek to be in a constantly suggestible state to be influenced by the Holy Spirit. We cultivate humility and obedience through faith and repentance unto manifesting the good fruits of the Spirit as we walk in the companionship of God’s guiding arm.
Psst, that’s this cycle again:
Real Faith
True Repentance
Divine Witness
Repeat
INTRODUCTION TO TECHNIQUES
To help us in this endeavor - there exist certain psychological techniques and tools that we use in order to more frequently and powerfully commune and communicate with the Spirit of the Lord. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but below I’ve written out a few.
All of these things on the list are tools by which we can be influenced by the power of God more plainly. Our Church and Temple meetings and ceremonies all involve one or many of the techniques listed above.
Just take our Sunday Sacrament meetings as an example. We ritually meet in a sacred space (covered in symbolism), wearing garments set apart for the occasion, sometimes fasting collectively, all of the same mind and intent to meditate and pray and feast on the word of God. We begin normally with some prelude music to - set the mood and invite the spirit AKA to invite an ‘altered’ mind state - suggestible to spiritual things. An opening prayer is offered to invoke/invite the spirit, more music and singing - more oxygen into the brain and heart, more breath of life with which to think clearly, more vibrations of the bones and of the organ pipes to direct our attention and energy inward and within to our beating hearts and real desires. Then time for meditation and the anticipated climax of the meeting - the consumption of the sacrament and the renewal of sacred covenants. The crowning event is then bolstered on the back end by the preaching of the word by others through the gifts of the Spirit they possess, through the sharing of testimony, and of doctrine and truth. Another song. Another Prayer.
All of these tools and techniques weave seamlessly together week after week in our ward and stake congregations - and if we are doing it right, they are also being employed daily within the walls and experiences of our homes and personal relationships with the Lord. The Kingdom of God provides all the necessary means for us to succeed during this probation and especially in these complex times. We have every opportunity and every reason to exercise RMC in order to overcome the world and the natural man.
I desire that anyone reading this will experiment on this cycle and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Take that leap of faith and clean up your thoughts and unrighteous desires and actions. I promise that the fruits of the Spirit of God will become more freely manifest in your daily life. By cleaning our inner vessel we will qualify to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost - and he is the only one who can truly introduce the cosmic layer of the Gospel into your heart. Once again - I’m just a doorman.
In Matthew 23:25-28 we read,
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
I want to conclude this essay lifting a huge part from President Nelson’s October 2022 General Conference Sunday morning talk. I feel that the same principles of mind control that I have been attempting to express here in general are powerfully woven into the current Prophet’s message - can you see them now?
Has the current Prophet been inviting us to strengthen our spiritual foundations? Has he focused on encouraging us to repent daily and to seek to expand our faith and grow into the principle of Revelation?
I am thankful for Prophets in the land.
What does it mean to overcome the world? It means overcoming the temptation to care more about the things of this world than the things of God. It means trusting the doctrine of Christ more than the philosophies of men. It means delighting in truth, denouncing deception, and becoming “humble followers of Christ.” It means choosing to refrain from anything that drives the Spirit away. It means being willing to “give away” even our favorite sins.
Now, overcoming the world certainly does not mean becoming perfect in this life, nor does it mean that your problems will magically evaporate—because they won’t. And it does not mean that you won’t still make mistakes. But overcoming the world does mean that your resistance to sin will increase. Your heart will soften as your faith in Jesus Christ increases. Overcoming the world means growing to love God and His Beloved Son more than you love anyone or anything else.
How, then, do we overcome the world? King Benjamin taught us how. He said that “the natural man is an enemy to God” and remains so forever “unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord.” Each time you seek for and follow the promptings of the Spirit, each time you do anything good—things that “the natural man” would not do—you are overcoming the world.
Overcoming the world is not an event that happens in a day or two. It happens over a lifetime as we repeatedly embrace the doctrine of Christ. We cultivate faith in Jesus Christ by repenting daily and keeping covenants that endow us with power. We stay on the covenant path and are blessed with spiritual strength, personal revelation, increasing faith, and the ministering of angels. Living the doctrine of Christ can produce the most powerful virtuous cycle, creating spiritual momentum in our lives.
As we strive to live the higher laws of Jesus Christ, our hearts and our very natures begin to change. The Savior lifts us above the pull of this fallen world by blessing us with greater charity, humility, generosity, kindness, self-discipline, peace, and rest.
Now, you may be thinking this sounds more like hard spiritual work than rest. But here is the grand truth: while the world insists that power, possessions, popularity, and pleasures of the flesh bring happiness, they do not! They cannot! What they do produce is nothing but a hollow substitute for “the blessed and happy state of those [who] keep the commandments of God.”
The truth is that it is much more exhausting to seek happiness where you can never find it! However, when you yoke yourself to Jesus Christ and do the spiritual work required to overcome the world, He, and He alone, does have the power to lift you above the pull of this world.
The Miracle of Forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball - pg. 115
“Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.”
Does God really want to speak to you? Yes! “As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course … as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints.”
Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives - GC APR 2018 - President Nelson
“7 Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.”
I've heard "Duh" before. He speaks to our understanding. I love it.