MENTAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE BIBLE

by Lawrence Wilson, MD

Development is nothing less than the fullest evolutionary step or healing step for a human being. It is beyond the comprehension of most people. However, for anyone who is interested, many books exist concerning it. This article is about the Western tradition of development. At the end of this article, I will also mention a few books that discuss the same idea in the Eastern tradition of spiritual development.

THE BIBLE AND NUTRITIONAL BALANCING

The most famous Western texts about development, however, are the Hebrew and the Christian bibles. An excellent way to avoid problems as one develops spiritually is to recall certain ideas in the Old and New Testaments of the bible, which is still very relevant today even though some of the ideas need a bit of clarifying, perhaps. It is a shame that it is not taught in every single high school in the nation, as it was up until the 1960s.

It was and still is the foundation of America, and it will be once again, I am sure, because its truths are timeless. It has been distorted by some groups and this has given it a bad name. But its truths are timeless. The following are common verses in the bible that bear repeating and have a lot to do with the development of the type this website is involved with.

EXAMPLES OF BIBLE VERSES CONCERNED WITH DEVELOPMENT

A man reaps what he sows - Galatians 6,7

This statement is a theme of development. It is the idea that as you live, you shall either die or survive, to use modern language. It is the concept that people make their own illnesses, most of the time. It is also the idea that one need not necessarily die with a horrible cancer, heart disease and a frail, degenerated body. Many people actually die in fairly good health of a mild infection or something else when it is their time to leave this earth.

You sow as you reap applies to one’s thoughts as well as actions. In terms of thinking, you are what you sow, eventually. This means that if you sow love and joy, you will eventually reap these in some way, as well. In fact, this can even change your past, in the sense that a person’s past is determined, in part, by what one believes about it. If you change your belief by deciding, perhaps, that all was in divine order, even though it was difficult, this actually changes the past in a significant way, at times.

For example, if you were beaten up by someone as a child, you could hold the attitude that you are victim of violence. If, however, you decide to hold a different attitude that you were just being paid back in some way for something you did to the other in another lifetime, perhaps, then you can be happy that the score has been settled and you are free to move on. Your past now changes because you can view it from a happier perspective. This may not seem important, but it can make the difference between a bitter and sad life and one full of joy and happiness.

One reason the medical system is failing is a clear lack of attention to what people do each and every day for themselves. This is the most important part of healing, not the myriad of remedies that most healing books are filled with. This does not mean to ignore symptoms completely, but to downplay remedies and instead focus on behavior and living habits.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind – Deuteronomy, and in Luke 10,27

This phrase has been misinterpreted by many who believe one must go to church or temple every week without fail. However, this is not exactly its meaning, I believe. It means one must love the Lord, or God, or even the higher self of oneself, but not an organization. This has tripped up many people and kept them from healing, in my view. Life is not about organizations or collectives of any kind. It is about you and you alone.

I punish the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and the fourth generations of those who hate me - Deuteronomy 9,10.

This statement is also true and to be remembered. However, too often the emphasis is on the sins, rather than the fact that the children will be forgiven! It just takes a while. For example, a recent program on The History Channel described the curse of the Native Americans that every president elected in a year ending in 0 would die in office. Indeed, this has occurred, beginning with Abraham Lincoln and ending with John F. Kennedy. The curse, however, was broken with Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. This may sound like pure superstition, but it is not exactly so. The American people were cruel toward the native people and they paid a price. However, eventually they wised up and the children are eventually forgiven. This is the point.

Another example is the black experience in America. Once again, there was much cruelty to slaves for over 100 years until the Civil War and afterwards for another 100 or so years. This, too, will lift. But I believe America is living through it now with President Obama, a man who is half black and half white. All this may sound odd, but it is not as odd as it sounds.

Another curse has to do with women. They, too, were treated as less than equal from a legal standpoint for the first 125 years of America’s founding. They still endure more than men have to endure, but this, too, is changing fast. As it does, men of all colors and types will be forgiven and this ill usher in a new era of peace between the sexes.

Similarly, there is a curse for the treatment of most children. They have also not been treated well in most nations, for years. Now all nations are reaping the harvest in problems of childhood that use up the nations’ resources such as autism, ADD and other problems. This, too, shall pass as people wise up and stop treating children like they treat a dog or cat.

In particular, parents must stop feeding children candy and cookies to bribe them and reward them. This is a horrible practice that teaches an incorrect message. Also, they must stop plopping them at the feet of the medical doctors who fill them with drugs and vaccines. This is child abuse, also, though the current laws view it in exactly the opposite way. Also, they must stop plopping them in front of the television without supervision, and in front of the public school teachers who slowly but surely dumb them down and make them forget the spiritual truths that would set them free. When this is done, the children’s problems around the world will disappear.

You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free – John 8,32

This famous verse is probably the greatest of them all. It states simply that truth, of itself, is freeing. Too many people seek for freedom rather than seeking for the truth about everyone and everything. Truth itself brings freedom, and truth alone. Freedom without truth leads back to slavery in some way or another.

Truth is also a momentary situation. Truth means awareness in this regard. One cannot just read the bible and know the truth, although this is wonderful start. One must also read the newspapers, perhaps, or listen to the news in other ways, and one must read both sides of arguments, read and listen to wise people and always “tune in” to one’s heart and listen to the truth within as well. This is confusing because the truth within is not always correct, so one must also seek guidance and wisdom outside to confirm the wisdom and guidance within. Otherwise, the mind can run away on a tangent and often does so. So truth is not just a book, ever.

Man born of woman must be reborn of spirit - John 3, 1-16

This verse has to do with another spiritual truth of great importance, namely that a person must be reborn as a spiritual being and stop living just as a physical being in order to progress spiritually, and to develop in a balanced way. It is a simple principle to say, but not to live. For example, some people think it means that one just goes to church and takes Jesus as one’s savior and that is all. One wishes it were that simple, though that is a good first step.

However, it has nothing to do with churches, in fact. It has to do with taking God or Jesus out of the picture, in fact, and substituting yourself as the one growing spiritually and accept that this is your destiny and your ultimate desire.

For, in fact, the kingdom of God is within you. – Luke 17, 21

This quote is important because the truth is with each of us, not out there somewhere needing to be researched or read about. It is to be discovered and followed from within. Most people, however, do not perceive it that way at all, in spite of 2000 years of teaching to the contrary. One reason is that churches tend to take the power from the people. A second reason is that people tend to give their power away too easily. The current education system, for example, and the current media tend to want to control us, rather than teach us how to look within, how to meditate properly, and how to assess and check our feelings with facts and truths in great books.

In fact, the current politically correct textbooks the children are forced to use often don’t contain the truth and are not interested in telling the truth, but instead in revising history, called revisionist history. This is an aspect of political correctness, not truth, that seeks to ‘clean up’ the mess mankind has made by somewhat pretending to the young that it never happened quite that way. It soothes the souls of the adults who write the textbooks, but it is a lie and must not be allowed to continue, as it completely confuses the young people today all around the globe. There is far too little truth in schools, and we are sorry to say the movement is continuing, instead of growing less so.

Set your mind on God’s kingdom and his justice before everything else, and all the rest will come to you as well – Matthew 6, 33

Sometimes this verse is translated as “seek first the kingdom of heaven and all else will be added thereto”. This is also an excellent translation. It means that once again, focus on God and God’s love, not on money, fame, fortune, or even health, and the rest will come to you. This is not exactly true, as one must focus on earthly matters enough to survive. But beyond the basics of living, the statement is very true and will avoid most problems of development.

What then of the man who hears these words of mine and acts upon them? He is like a man who had the sense to build his house on rock. The rain came down, the floods rose, the wind blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall because its foundations were on rock – Matthew, 7, 24-25

Like the phrase from the bible to be “vigilant for the kingdom”, this quote tells us to stick to the basics and keep building a solid foundation. This is also the importance of nutrition, clean water, fresh air to breathe, plenty of rest and sleep, and other aspects of healthful living.

In a word, there are three things that last forever: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of them all is love – 1 Corinthians, 13:13

This short verse, read at most Christian wedding ceremonies, offers hope to many who are alone, lonely, suffering and ill. It is the truest of statements, but not exactly as it is interpreted generally. What it means is that faith, hope and love spring eternal in the human heart. They are the eternal signs of life. When they leave, life leaves the body as a shadow melts in the sunlight. Of these, the greatest is love. Not human love, as the preachers teach, but the love of the body and the self. This is the most important thing to cultivate. All are born with it in great amount. By the end of the life, it is gone and with it goes the body. If it can be rekindled, then life has a chance.

Nutritional balancing gives that hope to many, and, in fact, to all who follow it faithfully. It does this by rejuvenating the cells of the body, removing the toxins and replacing trace minerals that are lost over time and due to trauma. It will not save everyone, as karmic and other types of illnesses may intervene. But it brings back faith, hope and love to all who will do it faithfully to some degree, at least, even if death does intervene.

Then God said, Let us make man in our image and likeness – Genesis 1,26

Too many people, for many reasons, see themselves as “slobs”, destitute and deficient in every conceivable way, ugly not only in body, but in spirit. This makes them turn away from deep spiritual seeking because they fear what they will discover about themselves. They also believe that they will be punished for their sins by a wrathful God who knows all their secret horrible or lowly thoughts and deeds. This is a shame and probably holds humanity back more than any other imbalance of the mind and spirit.

Once again, all babies are born with knowledge that they are made in the image of the creator of all life. Yet, by the time many enter school, and the rest soon after, they have forgotten their heritage and join the sad masses of humanity who only live for fleeting pleasures, sorry past times and other fleeting moments of joy. This saddens the wise spirits of your planet earth more than anything else. So always remember this verse. It keeps one balanced and sane, and keeps the spirit growing toward its ultimate source, the God who made all things in his image and likeness.

For my part, my brothers, I could not speak to you as I should speak to people who have the Spirit. I had to deal with you on the merely natural plane, as infants in Christ – 1 Corinthians 3,1

This is the final statement of this short article. It means that spiritual growth is real. It is not arrogant, it is not blasphemy and it is not a false teaching, as so many Christians take it to be. It is real as the sun rising each day. It is as real as the wind flowing through the trees. It is not visible and one must not judge others on their journey to Christ, but it is real.

Growing in Christ, as some call it, is absolutely real and involves more than reading the bible every day, though this is a good start. Today, this is not enough, I maintain. One must also meditate in the way that I recommend, according to the method of Mr. Roy Masters. Also, one must read the newspapers and become informed, and not just the mainstream press, which is very biased and prints many lies. For example, I love the outspoken critics of the Obama administration, such as Bill O’Reilly, Sarah Palin and others. These people are willing to speak out and say the truth when others are silent. This is part of growing in Christ as well.

OTHER TRADITIONS AND DEVELOPMENT

There are many books about development in many traditions, of which I am aware of just a few. For example, the most famous of the Eastern books is The Life And Teachings Of The Masters Of The Far East by Baird T. Spaulding. Another from the Western tradition of miracles and development include a newer book, Miracles of the Saints by Rodney Charles. Another book from the Orient that is well known is The Autobiography Of A Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.

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