2. Inner Change

2.1: When Helping Oneself

The value of self-awareness consists in that of knowing oneself before being able to conquer oneself. We must be aware of our good qualities and their potential, and what kind of weaknesses are restricting our life, preventing us from obtaining more spiritual growth. It is about an endeavour in welcoming an inner change in that direction, in reaching the point of being ready enough for it and able to abide by it. It is not sought to justify specific virtues or vices once and for all, as if our human qualities or restrictions would be permanent, and that nothing more was to be done about it. The human spirit makes us capable of overcoming vices that do already exist in our life, and in accustoming ourselves to virtues which have hitherto been out of our reach. The man’s spiritual condition is merely the consequence, caused by the opposing sources, even as how the earth has been reshaped and changed intentionally by the human race. There can exist all kinds of problems in the world, where there is something wrong with the environment and in the bearing of the masses. And yet all these problems in great matters can be traced to the problems afflicting the individual in small matters. It is merely a parallel to the human nature, what kind of activity has already taken place from within the man, what kind of influence he has yielded to or resisted. The goodness is able to shape and reshape everything else for the better, whether that people are being influenced by the circumstances for the better or that the circumstances are being influenced by the people for the better. If the man can be changed then he will approach the circumstances in a different way, and it will then lead to different results. It is not the circumstances that should first change before the man can be changed as well, but it is rather a changed man that manages to change the circumstances for the better.
               It is the role and responsibility of each individual to change himself for the better, since he is the only one possessing real control over his own life and what decisions are being made in free will. No man has ever changed other people by his single/one-sided effort, because it is always depended upon the recipient himself, how he chooses to understand and respond to the intervention on his behalf. The person that got changed allowed itself to be convinced to change. The man has no control over that what happens from within other people, in what way they will respond to the human spirit or the mind, and allow themselves to be convinced. A spiritual progress is depended upon oneself alone, but other people can never make such decisions on one’s behalf, since every person has only one soul in one body. It cannot be helped a man whom does not want to receive help, and will either way not appreciate it. For that man has already given up on himself, where first did he not allow the human spirit to help him from within, and then afterwards he allowed nobody else to do it. And even that one could help that man then it would still only last temporarily, while one is being present with him. He will remain just as faithless and helpless after one has left the scene. For that man does never listen to the human spirit while he is all alone, but only heeds the selfish influence of the mind, so he remains stuck in the same old habit. It can be said that one’s helpfulness has delayed that same man from helping himself, as if the problem would only be delayed or overlooked, but is still ever present. If the man does not heed the truthful voice of the divinity then he will also not heed the truthful remark of other people, which is also originated from the divinity in their lives.
               What would happen if everyone was always meddling with the lives of other people, and attempting to change them? Then every individual would be neglecting his own life and fail to change. And what would happen if everyone was preaching to other people to become perfect? Then no man would have any time left to convince himself, when it comes to practice that same message, and show a good example in deeds. And what would happen if all the citizens would be gazing upon foreign news and problems elsewhere? Then there would be no time left to analyze own internal affairs and improve the society. What would happen if everyone was gazing upon the flaws and mistakes of other people? Then no man would have any time left to cultivate his own good qualities and potential. It does not make any sense that the man should look so far, and try to change the world directly, while it is neglected all the important matters that are right in front of him. It is a complete self-deception to expect everyone else to become perfect, and demand too much from them, while it is failed to apply the same standard to one’s own life. The man can speak about that what other people should do to improve the society and make the world a better place. But when that man is questioned why he himself does not have the initiative to do such things then he tries to excuse himself from it, like by claiming that it does not matter what one person will do while the majority is acting differently. The man consider his own opinions to be special and better than the opinions of other people. But since the man thinks that everyone else are too apathetic and unwilling to make any difference; then he himself becomes unwilling to abide by his own opinions. The man tends to overrate the concept of the majority, where he does not want to be the first one to make the necessary sacrifices, like by reducing his comforts or abstaining from debauchery. For that same man does not want to miss out on the pleasures which everyone else seems to be enjoying, and he does thereby continue to be like them. Each man is waiting for someone else to have the initiative, and he fails to understand that other people think exactly the same thing of him, as a part of the majority.
               Happy is the man that can discover solutions all by himself, but not through the advices of other people. For that we are unable to know what other people are actually thinking, and what their true motive is, during the moment their opinion is given to us. Are such people being sincere or false, reliable or treacherous, scrupulous or selfish? Is the person speaking through conviction, personal experience, inspiration, and concern for our welfare? Or is the person involved rather being controlled by covetousness, short-sightedness, impulsiveness, bias, and contempt? This is why it is much better to listen to our own conviction, inspiration, and sense, originated from the voice of the divinity in our heart and spirit. For we should be most aware/conscious about our own premises and expectations, why we are doing this, for what and whom, what we are actually seeking for or trying to promote. We should know it with ourselves whether we are being straight-spoken or quibbling, really concerned about the welfare of other persons or not, controlled by moral principle or covetousness for dishonest gain. This is why it is much better to choose and reject from within ourselves, rather than by living in uncertainty about the advices of other people. We should never attempt to imitate the opinions and behaviour of other people, because so many opinions from so many people will only contradict one another. It does not involve the same heart or mindset in each person, and we do not even know which is what, so it is severed the context between the intention and the choice. For example, the opinion and the behaviour can be right, but our own intention is being selfish. Or the opinion and the behaviour are wrong, but our own intention is being optimistic. It would have been better if both the intention and the choice belonged solely to oneself, being consistent with the same conviction.

If the man is going to obtain spiritual progress then he must do that which is right in general, rather than by implicating everything to his self-image, self-interest, and self-preservation. Let’s say that a stupid man would offer advices against his own stupidity. Then it would mean that the advices themselves do also prove to be stupid. For that a stupid man can never offer wise advices, as if he could accomplish something totally out of character and that the creation was being superior to the creator, but all the undertakings will suffer for his stupidity. It is exactly the same thing when a selfish man seeks to overcome his selfish problems, by coming up with selfish answers and remedies. The man cannot expect that he can defeat temptations by relying upon another kind of temptations, but a true victory can only come through the pure goodness. This is why the man must ask himself upon what basis his effort is founded upon, and how it will affect him. It is a selfish thing when the man is too occupied with subjective problems, and trying to get rid of them directly, only so he can save himself from its uncomfortable experience. Such a struggle does not need to be waged, by gazing upon the problems above everything else. It is not like the man can have the final word, or get rid of the subjective problem once and for all, because selfishness will only breed further selfishness. The man keeps the subjective problem alive by giving it further attention, so that his own improper struggle is prolonging the problem and delaying himself from the solution. The man should not stop and then chase after the illusions of the mind, but it should instead be moved on and thereby forced the illusions to chase after him. The mind should follow our initiative and come over to us, but it should not work the other way around.
               When a selfish man struggles against problems in his mind then it is not through any genuine repentance, but he is only trying to get rid of the maladies or mental symptoms that are afflicting him. That man does not actually understand the cause behind all of this, and what kind of moral choices are involved, since he is too self-centred and biased to know otherwise. For example, the man can be angry with a specific person because of the past. When it has been dwelt on it for long then the escalated anger begins to make the man too distracted and unstable to maintain focus, so that he is being negligent of his surroundings and accidentally dropping things. Because the anger is now disrupting the man’s daily activity then he selfishly begins to consider the anger a problem, and tries to discover selfish answers in order to make it go away. But the man is still the same unwilling to love and forgive the person he has been angry at, so the anger will continue to exist and produce negative effects in his soul. It does not make any sense when the man tries to solve every problem that can exist in his mind, because the mind will always continue to create new illusions, which only exist in the mind but are irrelevant to the actual reality. The selfish man relies upon empty words in order to make empty words go away, where both the problem and the remedy prove to be impalpable and needless. The mind is like one big landfill site, with its filth, garbage, junk, and waste. It does not make any difference whether the man goes to that landfill and tries to arrange the objects in organized way, by moving objects between locations, or trying to clean filth with another kind of filth. For that all this time the man is still located inside the landfill site, and nothing is changed about the nature of that place, since that nothing good will ever come out from it. It would have been better if the man had never arrived at the landfill site in the first place. Or if it happens that the man wakes up and he finds himself stationed at a landfill site then he should immediately leave it. A garbage is something to be disposed of, but it should not be accompanied the garbage to the landfill site.
               The man should first move on with his life, by caring for his beloved ones and have constructive goals, and then afterwards will all the subjective problems vanish by itself. It is like all personal problems will no longer matter and all be forgotten, because the man is willing to let go of it in order to be more focused in being there for his beloved ones and finishing demanding tasks. But the man should not put everything on hold in his life, and next try to solve subjective problems once and for all, before he can finally move on with everything else. The mind will always create new problems instead of those that seem to be solved, even as how a liar is always coming up with new quibbles, excuses, and scapegoats. The man should first allow the human spirit to help him from within, and then the man will be able to help himself in external matters and be in better position to help other people. But the man should not neglect the good source in his own life and go too far in trying to help other people, as if he would be reducing himself into a servant/slave centred upon their lives. Because the man’s conviction is still being immature then he offers immature advises, and it is at most rendered a superficial and shallow service on behalf of that people. The man can presume that he is helping himself by helping other people, and trying to save himself by saving other people, like such good deeds can change or redeem his soul. But it is really the man himself which is in a need of help, and whom needs to be saved. This is why the man should turn directly to the divinity, and allow it to deliver him from within. And after the man has been saved then he will no longer be too depended upon other people, and he can draw from his spiritual recovery for those that are in a position he had once been in.
               Now if the man comes across a hindrance on his path then the hindrance should not become a priority, but it has priority that the man can continue to move forward. It is not like the man should attempt to move the hindrance out of sight, or attempt to change the hindrance so that it will no longer be a hindrance. But the man should simply step over the hindrance, or move past the hindrance. Or when the man notices a hindrance to the right or to the left of his path then he is not obligated to move over there and try to do something about it. But it is only required for the man to look ahead and keep moving on the straight path. And let’s say that when the man is moving forward on the straight path then someone does regularly go in front of him and drop tangled things. It is not like the man should become obsessive about having everything perfect around him and try to sort out every tangle, since the other person will always drop another tangled thing instead. But the man must let go of this every time in order to reach the destination in time. For another example, the man encounters a puddle on the middle of the path. Then the man should not stop for a long time and be afraid of that in stepping in the puddle, or by rethinking it over and over again whether he had accidentally touched the puddle, as if it could possible lead to be bad effects for himself or make the man imperfect. But it is only sufficient for the man to have his eyes on the dry side and go alongside the puddle. It should already be obvious that the selfish problem is wrong, and something to be rejected from the outset, where it should not matter whether the man has previously been affected by it or not, by showing some sign of weakness. Or let’s say that the man would accidentally step into a puddle, so that part of his pants will have wet dirt upon them. Then the man should not stop and attempt to rub the dirt off his pants, since it will only spread the dirt even more. But the man should rather move on and allow the dirt to dehydrate during the hot day, so the dry dirt can finally peel off on its own accord and be no more a problem. This is why we should not become obsessive over our problems, and try to solve them as soon as possible, when it will only make us distracted and unstable at the same time. It should rather be had faith in the divinity, that it knows what is best for us, so we will be able to obtain solution from another location, and no longer become troubled.
               The wrong thing must always be countered by the right thing and replaced by the latter. It is a short-sighted thing to criticize something in the bearing of the person while it is failed to mention what could be improved about it. It is a vicious cycle when the man is only concerned about that in being free of flaws, because even that one flaw is taken away then the soil will remain open for another flaw to spring up. It would have been better to replace that flaw with truth and virtue, so the goodness would already inhabit the human soil, and prevent further vices and weaknesses from taking roots. For example, a thief can try to resist the urge of stealing specific objects, so that sometimes he succeeds and abstains from it, while at other times he fails and commits a crime. It is because he has still not replaced the covetousness and its craving with good qualities, like by being industrious, modest, and content with his life. A victory over the evilness is always depended upon the goodness, where every truth bestows the necessary wisdom to conquer lies, and every virtue bestows the necessary strength to overcome a vice, so the goodness in itself is basically the same thing as a victory. The individual should not be deemed a good person only because he has abstained from crimes or serious faults, while he has actually not been doing anything good and beneficial at the same time. Inactivity in evil deeds is not the same thing as activity in good deeds, because many people tend to do neither, so they are neither malignant nor altruistic in anything. It can apply that the man has not committed any direct crime against another person, but he has still the same stood back and done nothing to help a person living in distress. Back then the man possessed something good that could have been drawn from and it was within his power to do so. This is why the man is at fault for having done nothing, where his inactivity can be harmful as when a crime is committed.
               That to love the goodness is to cherish everything in which the goodness stands for, what is originated from its source and what does belong to it. For it is something freely given by the goodness, shared to us, and taken back by it when it deems so, like when our prosperity in this world is only temporary while the goodness does last forever. It is hated the evilness because it does contradict the goodness, so that we reject the evilness because we are already following the goodness with all our heart. We hate the selfishness because it does contradict the love had for the person. And we hate lies because they slander the glorious and beautiful truth, and the strength which we do otherwise derive from virtues. The goodness should be done for its own sake, and as its own reward. But it should be avoided all indirect and irrelevant reasons, which have nothing to do with any sincere concern for the person and faith in the value of the goodness. Perfectionism is not the same thing as goodness, because it is sought to avoid wrong things and pursue right things for self-centred reasons. It is always implicated good or bad qualities to the ego, where that virtues are supposed to exalt the ego and make the man feel better about himself, while vices are supposed to debase the ego and make the man feel less about himself. The man only looks upon the virtues as some kind of means/tools to make himself perfect, and he tries to remove flaws from his life because they are making him imperfect. But it is completely overlooked the lasting value of virtues, how the virtues can benefit the man from within and during human relations, in being of practical use in various circumstances. It is through virtues that it can be maintained balance during time of prosperity and time of adversity.

The man must first consider a right possibility before he can look for it, and discover its value for himself. But it will never happen if the man spends all his time upon irrelevant and digressive pursuits. How is the man going to discover his fields of interest and strong factors, if all the time is being wasted upon his weaknesses and loose habits and selfish problems? (Also when the man is constantly criticizing such things in other people and himself answering the criticism of other people, as if the person being criticized was supposed to give account of itself to completely irrelevant person located on the other side of the planet, instead of rendering account to its own conscience). But let us not digress from the matter at hand. Can the man really decide it in advance what he is being good or bad at doing? It would be best to maintain a silent and empty mind, and then participate in these or those fields, to test whether it does truly appeal to his interest and capability. But it is not like the man can first foresee everything and then finally decide to participate in the field, since it is the personal experience that bestows knowledge and skill to him. The man must approach the unknown with a degree of faith, where he does not know it in advance what is precisely going to happen in upcoming circumstances, like what the environment will look like, what the people will do, and what he can experience from within. But the man does still the same believe that he can confront it on his arrival, by noticing the nearby environment, focusing upon the challenge, adapting to any changes, and respond in the best way possible. It can be called spontaneous inspiration, the ability to improvise according to the moment. It does not need to be perfect on his behalf, but rather acceptable and bearable and decent enough. It is even possible that the man can experience the same thing as the original inventors, how it can be improved the approach and made the method more efficient. The man did not actually know what other people had discovered and invented before his time, but the human spirit is still able to bestow similar experience and enlightenment. This is why there is nothing impossible to the man when it comes to confront the unknown, because the human spirit is able to repeat similar achievements and progress. Human beings might be different and live at different periods, but the human spirit remains the same inside every one of them.
               Nothing is being impossible in itself, when it involves a specific field, challenge, or a problem. It all comes down to that in what way one will approach the task at hand, ‘how’ it should be properly executed on one’s behalf. It is not only about manual labour, what could be done with one’s hands, but it is does also reach to intellectual aspect, in what way to organize things. The man’s own intellects will determine the approach, in what way will be prioritized the process, and whether the method should change, so it can deliver more efficiency. Is the same approach to be repeated which has hitherto not been working out? Or should it be looked for solution upon another basis, by making use of different things to get the same desirable outcome (that has all along been wished for)? The man must first change his attitude, and then his response will be different, rather than by continuing to be stubborn in his foolishness and stuck on the same problem. If the man has hitherto failed in his tasks then it is because of his human restrictions, what kind of presumptions and weaknesses have been affecting his capability. The attitude is like the eyes of the soul, in what kind of way is chosen to see the external things, so that pure eyes will receive pure/clear information while impure eyes will receive impure/distorted information. Will the man try to discover a right answer and solve the challenge at hand, or will he give up and only dwell upon the things which he is unable to control and change? If the man is already spiritually sober and modest then he will enjoy every moment, be at peace with himself, and be focused upon the goals at hand. It can be acknowledged that something is being hard for us to achieve, and yet we also acknowledge that it is not being too hard for the divinity to achieve. It can be acknowledged that we are undertaking something against the greater odds, and yet we also acknowledge that mere odds make no difference to the divinity. There is no shame in that in confessing our own ignorance and frailty. We are rather being at fault when implicating our own ignorance and frailty to the divinity, when we claim that the divinity cannot know it and cannot do it because we cannot know it and cannot do it.
               It should be focused upon that which is within one’s reach to know and achieve, while everything else is put on hold, which is beyond one’s understanding and capability. It is first kept to the basics, and then advanced lessons will follow sometime afterwards, all in it due time. It would not have mattered if one had immediate access to the advanced knowledge, because one is either way in no position to understand it and in making a proper use of it. The advanced knowledge will not do us any good while we are still being found unready in fulfilling simple basic things. It can be mentioned that when it is sought to make a copy of a specific picture. The unskilled man does not need to trouble himself about the final destination, in what way the picture looks like when it is completed, with all these details at the same time. But it is only sufficient to draw a line between places, and in drawing one issue at a time, so that everything else is put on hold, until the moment comes that such issue become relevant. And it does not matter whether person makes a specific mistake, as if it would ruin the picture in whole, and make all subsequent effort futile in itself. For there is always time to pick up the thread where it was last left, in undoing the mistake and do better next time. Personal experience and knowledge has more value than the equipment used during the enterprise. The equipment does only have value in regard to the limited factor it is used for, while the spiritual values are able to benefit the man in many fields and factors. The equipment and technology can become obsolete with the time, but not the knowledge and human creativity behind it, in which will become the source of new inventions. It can happen that one undertakes a specific challenge for the first time, and it will lead to misunderstanding and mistakes, so that material objects can be destroyed in the process. But the effort can still the same be worth it, so long as one learned something new from it, and will be able to do better next time, and so forth, until one has finally mastered it.
               The value of confidence should only involve one’s own determination, where it is believed that one will be able to confront the matter, analyze it, and respond in a proper way. It is not like one will have full certainty about the outcome and how it can affect oneself, like whether it will be gotten one’s way with everything or escaped from all harm. The value does rather consist in the certainty that one will be able to endure the harm/setback when it does finally happen, and continue to be willing enough in going through opposition to the very end. It does not matter how often the mind will haunt one with aggressive thoughts, or how unpleasant such experience can be. For that one does still believe that it can be overcome each and every time, and that it is possible to obtain victory over the mind itself. The man does only need to concentrate upon one thing at a time, whether it does involve his eyes and ears in receiving information, or his mouth and limbs in responding to it. And a similar thing applies to the spiritual activity, where it is only sufficient to sense one thing at a time, to endure one delusion at a time, and remain faithful one more time. The man does not actually need to have his attention upon many things at the same time, the present and the future, near and distant things, or what is outside his will and ability. But it is only sufficient to focus upon the time and place where one is currently at, what is now right in front of oneself, what can actually be intervened with or made some use of. If the man is confident on this day then he will also be so tomorrow, when the future has finally become the present moment, since it can only be experienced one moment at a time. It is always the present time that applies, while the concept of the past and the future does only exist in the mind, and is imagined while the present time is taking place.
               It can be mentioned warfare of old as an example to explain confidence further. At that time infantry made use of melee weapons and shields, and they fought closely together in massed formation (shield wall). The enemy could have a much bigger army and thereby deploy more soldiers on the battlefield. But each soldier did not need to have attention upon all the enemy soldiers at the same time, as if the mere appearance would be able to determine the outcome before the actual engagement. It was not like the soldier was all alone, fighting against the whole enemy army. It was only required of each soldier to concentrate upon that in overcoming the enemy soldier in front of him, in taking one enemy at a time, until the next one appeared in the line. Like if there were ten soldiers fighting against hundred enemy soldiers at a narrow location (bridge, gorge), and these ten soldiers could engage ten enemy soldiers at a time, while the majority/rest of the enemy soldiers were waiting in a line behind until their turn came. Hence every soldier only fought one enemy soldier at a time, while the enemy soldiers behind were being too distant and irrelevant. In a battle each soldier needed to be valiant and fight to the best of his ability, without needing to trouble himself about some distant enemies, or the performance of his fellow-soldiers. It did not matter what was happening elsewhere in the battle, because it was altogether irrelevant to the soldier’s capability, in obtaining victory at his location. It would never work out if every soldier was neglecting the place assigned to him, while being too distracted about things that were happening elsewhere in the battle. Each and every soldier would thereby fight poorly, while relying upon someone else to do everything, so it would only be a matter of time until the whole army would rout. Let’s say that the man is being attacked by bad opinions of many people (slander, assertions about him as a person and what he is or is not capable of). The man should not allow this to change his current attitude and that what he is now doing. The man should not stop his life and go over to the people which are verbally attacking him, as if he needed to say or do something in order to prove himself in their eye or to satisfy their demands. That would be the same thing as if a single soldier would try to fight numerous enemies out in the open, where he is constantly chasing after elusive targets (air-like insubstantial opinions/lies) which do hit-and-run tactic, and where the enemies can easily surround him (attack from front, sides, and rear). The man should rather maintain his current attitude the same and keep doing the things that he has been doing. The man should allow his morally right choices to speak for himself with the time, that his choices might confirm that what he chosen to become and that it can disprove all attacks that claim otherwise. That would be the same thing if a single fighter/boxer would choose to make his stand near a doorway (the only entrance and exit) inside a building and there wait for every enemy outside to get within reach. By doing so he will be able to divide the enemy group into many isolated/single/lonesome targets, where the enemies will be forced to come over to him and engage him in the narrowing. It is best to allow the weaknesses of our enemies to prove their own undoing with the time, when they end up saying and doing the very bad things which they have been accusing us of, and when they turn out to be no better in the challenges involved (they can’t accomplish good things because they lack good sense and good qualities). The man should not seek to save his own life (directly) at the expense of moral principles and integrity. When the man chooses to live and suffer for a higher purpose (greater than his own life) then the spiritual values will save/redeem him from their end. The man is being safe with them, since these spiritual values are being divine and eternal and safely kept/stored in heaven. The man is being benefited by the angels of God overseeing these virtues. When the man is being at peace with his conscience then it is the same thing as if he was being stationed in one of the good rooms in heaven.

2.2: Expectations of Recovery

When something involves pessimism and grumbling then it can be called a negative thing. A negative attitude can be be likened to that when the man gets a little stone inside his shoe, in which can be felt for each time when the man steps on the ground, regardless of the time and place. The man should not blame the place for this unpleasant experience, or try to avoid these or those spots on the ground. It is only sufficient to remove the little stone from the shoe and then one can easily travel to any place, be fully focused, and enjoy the experience. Another situation describes itself in that if the man would kick dry loose dirt up into the air, so that some particles would get stuck in his eyes and taint his vision. The man would now see dirt here or there in the environment, and on other people, but the dirt is really only in his own eyes. The dirt is not on the external things, but rather in between or in front of them. It is exactly the same thing when the man does have a negative attitude, where his negative experience is the mere reflection of his corrupt mindset. A negative man is always seeing negative things about the environment and other people, but he is really telling/enumerating delusions that belong to his own mind. A corrupt and treacherous man does ever suspect the same thing in other people, because he ascribes his own bad opinions to them, implicates his own bad qualities to them, and sees his own bad self in them.
               The root of the problem does not consist in the circumstances and in other people, as if these external issues must first change before the man can finally confront and overcome it. The human mind is the original problem, because the thoughts are constantly lying about everything else, which can be seen, heard, experienced, spoken of, done, and received. The man does first listen to the delusions of the mind, and then afterwards he sees everything else as a problem, or blames everything else for his own error of judgment. The man has already restricted himself in advance and developed wrong attitude, by seeking for the wrong things, at a wrong place and time, and from the wrong people. The man will give up misleading impression, express himself in an improper way, and create some kind of misunderstanding. It is like the man does never stop to analyze the subjective influence, whether such thoughts are really being fair and unbiased, according to facts rather than his own selfish expectations. It can be mentioned an example when sport teams are competing against each other. One of them can neglect all team-play, where every team-member is only concerned about that in keeping the ball, in being the one to score and get all the credit. It will thereby not matter whether that team will get more opportunities in the future, if the game time would be prolonged, or another match planned against the same team. The real problem is to be found within the team, while it should not be blamed the external things. For that every team-member is being selfish and incompetent, lacking the right spirit for the game, neglecting every opportunity, and never adapting to any changes.
               It has the most priority to withstand the selfish attitude, and then afterwards will one’s speech and deeds follow as well. But it is not like one should give up and no longer seek to withstand the selfish attitude, while it is only tried to change a part of something in one’s outward speech and deeds. For example, the man can be afraid of the mind and the unpleasant thoughts that are haunting him, and the man will only resist for a limited time and soon yield to corruption. That very corruption changes the way the man sees himself and other people, and the corruption misleads the man into thinking that he needs to seek something or escape from something, so that man begins to say and do something outwardly which is supposed to appease these unfounded needs. When that man openly says and does something before other people then there lies an ulterior motive behind it, since he is really expecting something else from the people and trying to manipulate them into gratifying his needs. It is a hypocritical thing when the man is being slavish to the mind and agreeing with all its dishonest thoughts, while only pretending to be free and honest on the outside, by deceiving and convincing everyone else about it. If the attitude is selfish then the external behaviour cannot become good, like when a selfish man forces it upon himself to do seemingly good deeds. What the man understood to be good was not really being good, because if the goodness had been involved then it would never have forced/constrained the man into doing it. It is not like the man should try to change the environment and other people, which the negative thoughts in him have been criticizing, or try to satisfy these obsessive thoughts once and for all. The man should rather withstand the mind itself, which has hitherto been producing all these negative thoughts, as the original cause, the source of all temptations and problems. It has the most priority to free oneself from the mind’s influence, and then afterwards can one have a pure attitude, see and experience everything in a pure way, as it really is. The man must first change from within, and then can the deeds reflect his attitude, where he does truly wish to do so in sincerity but not because of some selfish reasons. The first step must always begin in one’s heart, by seeking help from the divinity that one might have the heart in the right place and have sincere intentions, by being outspoken and plainspoken about one’s position, by acknowledging the truth and being humble enough to abide by it.

A mental illness can describe itself in aggressive thoughts which haunt the man, and which can be accompanied by all kinds of misleading signs and symptoms in his body. These thoughts keep coming over to the man and they seek to distort every experience the man is having. It can happen that the man begins to yield to delusions and allows it to affect his stability. However, it is not a single battle that will determine the war in whole, but rather the man’s steadfastness the long run, by keep having the same stance while moving on, no matter how slowly it might seem. It can often seem like the man has the greater odds against himself and even that the spiritual struggle has already been lost, because the man can feel like he has already yielded and shown negligence. It is experienced unusual symptoms in the body which give the impression that the man is already experiencing bad consequences of a bad choice made within himself. But the sensations of the body prove to be just as unreliable judge as the mind itself, so it should not be consulted with the body whether something is being morally right or wrong. Something within can seem to be good and to be clung to, but then it happens all of a sudden that this seemingly good thing disappears and along with it the confidence thereof. And something bad within can seem to disappear like it has finally been defeated, and yet it happens short time after that this bad thing reappears in full force and it shatters the confidence derived from premature celebration of victory. All these changes in the mind and the body, which seem to be either good or bad, and which seem to confirm whether a specific choice considered is being good or bad; these very same thoughts and sensations all turn out to be bad, because these seemingly good things create a false confidence of something transient which is not of the human spirit. Even after all of this the man should still continue to have faith in the unseeable breath of God, that it will make him able to withstand these temptations in the long run, although he does not know how or when exactly. Spiritual wounds can heal with the time, just like when physical wounds are involved. It is of course only the good source which can revive and heal our soul, but it is not something which we can force to happen, or try to achieve solely through our human effort. It would be a foolish thing if the man had a serious wound treated with bandages and he would constantly be opening the bandages in order to see whether the wound has healed. For that by doing so the man is more likely to reopen the wound and prolong the healing process. Once it has been attended to the wound with proper matter (including that of replacing bandages with new ones at regular interval) then nothing more is required from the man than for him to rest and wait things out. The man himself does not need to do anything (further) in regard to the wound. It is simply received healing with the time. It should be put this in context of that when the man is having a spiritual struggle for his soul (which is being misguided, because it is only the divinity which can secure his soul and deliver it from evil). The man only makes things worse for himself when he is constantly trying to save himself within, when he gives too much attention to his subjective problems and he censors every move in the mind, and he is constantly trying some new quick remedy that does not work out. This constant strain on him drains him of all energy and focus. The very remedies he relies upon prevent him from resting and healing. The only thing needed is for the man to simply acknowledge that he has no power to heal himself, where it is something which only the human spirit can control and be able to achieve. The man should remain calm, and think no further about his problems, and allow the human spirit to take care of everything, all in its due time. The man should do nothing in regard to the problems and wait with patience within himself, while at the same time he can concentrate upon constructive goals which he possesses interest and conviction in.
               It is not like the man can deceive and outsmart the human spirit, like by pretending to be good until the human spirit has bestowed spiritual healing and victory over the mental illness, and then the man would immediately betray the human spirit and resume his selfish way of life. For that if the man does possess such a treacherous motive then it means that he is still being selfish and unworthy, so that he will never be able to obtain blessings in the first place. That man would be deceiving himself by telling himself that he would become selfish again, because he has been selfish all along. The human spirit does bestow blessings to us if we are being faithful enough to receive it and make good use of it, so that we can become a better person and help one another. But we will never obtain any blessings if we only wish to abuse such gifts for our selfish ends and/or to harm other persons, since the human spirit will not help us to succeed in corruption. We would otherwise be tempting the human spirit, just like the mind has been tempting us, so that we only have ourselves to blame for remaining spiritually barren/empty. For example, a beauty might seem to be a good thing, but it is not being good to us if we abuse such beauty in order to become a harlot. A similar thing applies that we should not abuse our physical strength in order to bully the weak and the defenceless, or abuse our intelligence in order to deceive and cheat other people. It can thereby be said that such attributes prove to be neutral in itself, while it is depended upon the human will whether it will be used for good or evil purpose, upheld with responsibility or lost/squandered by unrestraint. The human spirit is able to discern everything at the outset, whether a person proves to be truthful or false, humble or proud, moderate or greedy, faithful or treacherous. This is why no person should ever complain about its own human lot, as if it would deserve more from the divinity, because that person is already deemed unworthy in its attitude. A truthful stance and repentance is a prerequisite for spiritual progress. Let’s say that a man does constantly participate in debauchery and it later makes him sick, so the man is being too sick to resume the debauchery. But when someone does help that man to become healthy again then that man does immediately resume the debauchery. An unrepentant person does not assume responsibility of its bad choices, and it is not willing to improve its conduct. That person is only concerned about escaping the bad consequences of its bad choices, that it might do it all over again. If a person remains unrepentant of its selfish ways then it will consider every good turn to be something to be exploited in a selfish way, so that the good things which other people intend for that person will not do that person any good. But if the person is wholly devoted to the greater goodness then every spiritual progress is made possible. The divinity checks the inner-most part of the person, what it truly is which the person is seeking for and what the person considers to be most important in its life. A false and selfish person does have a mask when approaching the divinity, because that person pretends to be concerned about something and it says something beautiful about it when that person is really after a selfish advantage. It is like the person tells itself that if it will do ‘this’ then it will get ‘this’ from the divinity, and then that person can finally do ‘this’ selfish thing and become happy in ‘this’ . That person does not come forth openly and simply confess that it is after this selfish advantage. That person has still not confessed that it is having ulterior motives. This selfish advantage which is being coveted is like a wall in the heart of the person, or one of many walls coming up between that person and the divinity. This superficial ‘faith’ of the person does end at this wall, thereby not reaching further in. A genuine faith must reach to the inner-most part of the person, as something which is being open and bare, the last thing standing after all other things have been uncovered and removed. That when it is sought the divinity then it is sought to do things the divinity’s way and what the divinity considers to be most important.
               A spiritual progress can correspond to a physical progress to a certain degree. An athlete must be fully devoted to the contest at hand, and in fulfilling the physical requirements. That man needs to be determined and sober in his spirit, before he can be willing to train hard and become physically fit. Then he can finally be ready to enter the contest and have a chance of being victorious over other competitors. He must never slacken his resolve nor neglect the training, but he must be willing to sacrifice any loose habit and pleasure that might get in the way (distraction). The training is meant to have the first priority, while everything else come after it, but the man should never delay the training so that he can have a more comfortable life. It is not like the man would only train sometime, while being lazy in between for a long time, as if it could be made many exceptions or only trained the day before the contest. When an athlete becomes victorious in a contest then he does not celebrate it with unrestrained revelry. For that he must continue to be sober and disciplined, so that he can improve himself, improve the record, and obtain further victories in contests. It is thereby a way of life, something to be accustomed to each passing day, countless days in a row. It is exactly the same thing with the spiritual progress, where it is not only achieved progress but it is also established and expanded further, during the man’s entire lifetime. And even that the man could become perfect then he should still never boast about it nor become arrogant to other people, because that would make him imperfect right away.
               It is not the man’s physical body which is being good or evil in itself, but it is depended upon the heart and soul underneath, as the driving force. The body remains fundamentally the same, while the heart and soul can be changed for better or worse. It is the man which decides which inner source he will heed over the other, and then afterwards will he use his physical body for good or evil ends. The human spirit makes the man able to obtain spiritual progress and make accomplishments, but the man should not take it too personally and claim all the credit. For the man was being blessed while he was heeding the human spirit (for as long time as he was doing it), but when the man ceases to do it then he will no longer grasp and achieve the same things. It is the mind which promotes spiritual regression, negligence, and failures, which will continue to happen while the man proves to be so selfish and fickle in his ways. A self-inflicted misery or humiliating incident is merely the consequence, which the long-term mindset had contributed to, making one already weak and delusional prior to it and during its experience. The selfish mindset made everything seem problematic to us and too hard to bear, since we were being afflicted by all kinds of impulses and symptoms at the same time. The man should not implicate the goodness or the evilness to himself, as if he had been the first one to invent these things and promote them to the world. But the man did merely choose to receive it from either source, and then applied it to his own life. The good things and the bad things have existed long before the man’s own time and choices, so the man can at most follow the human spirit and make use of that which belongs to it. The good qualities are a permanent part of the human spirit, while bad qualities are a permanent part of the mind. But there is nothing permanent about the man himself, since he is given a choice on each passing day, whether he will heed the goodness or the evilness. It is not like the past will always follow the man and restrict him in advance, but the man can always learn from his mistakes and do better next time, on this very day.
               Now let’s say that the man would be perfect in all things except one factor, so that he neglects to do the right thing in it and reveals a sign of selfishness. Then that same weakness can lead to bad consequences, where the man can become distracted, unstable, impulsive, negligent of his surroundings, and prone to mistakes and accidents. It does not actually affect the factors which the man is being faithful and honest in, so that he is otherwise focused, stable, calm, and sober most of the time. But the bad effects do only happen while the man is coveting the selfish factor, thinking about it, and pursuing it, although it can still follow some time afterwards, as withdrawal symptoms. It is not like the man can then complain to the divinity and assert that this is being unfair (that he is experiencing all these bad effects following that single bad factor), because he has otherwise been faithful and honest in most factors. The good qualities are not supposed to justify the selfish factor, or redeem the selfish factor in some way, but the man will continue to reap according to each quality and its sphere of influence. Even that the man has hitherto been doing the right thing in all things then it does still not excuse that when he finally chooses to do the wrong thing. Like when a seemingly exemplary figure chooses to covet a woman and he approaches her in an improper way and tries to exploit her (sexual misconduct). When that woman becomes aware of his false attitude and dealings then she rejects him, so that man does not get anything from her and he only ends up making a fool of himself. He is not to be rewarded for this fault because of all the other right things he has been doing. He deserves to fail in this pursuit because of his unworthy attitude and approach. These fruitless consequences are rightfully called for when it is thrown seeds into a barren soil (the selfish side). For another example, the man can be sober and industrious in his profession, so that he will have success in his work and obtain many rewards. But that same man can have a weakness for alcohol, and he becomes intoxicated during weekends. So that while the man is being drunk then he commits mistakes through error of judgment and he is easily exploited by other people. However, it does only apply when he is drunk, but not while the man is sober at his work. Therefore should it not be rebuked the man while he is doing good work, but only while he is drinking alcohol or planning to do it again. And it should not be praised the man while he is drinking and tried to excuse his shameful dealings because of the sober achievements during his profession.

There do exist two extremes, and these extremes are namely selfishness and self-righteousness. The selfish man inclines to that in choosing something (moral or immoral) if there is an expectation of repayment, like if it involves profit, pleasure, or an avoidance of pain. He does not care about the distress of other people and he is unwilling to help anyone for free. Selfishness is otherwise rather self-explanatory, and does not require further description. The selfish man only chooses something if there is something in it for himself, while a self-righteous man can be neglecting and contradicting himself while trying to do something for the sake of others. The self-righteous man tells himself that he is trying to help other people, but his very approach/means prove to be reckless and inconsiderate, like when it involves too much force and interferences against the consent of other people. When a self-righteous man notices something lacking in other people (attitude, bearings) then he seeks to remedy it by trying to change them directly, and he does it in such a bad way that it only escalates the bad things or replaces one bad thing with another bad thing. The remedy proves to be far worse and more insane than the actual malady. The self-righteous man seeks to do the right thing for all the wrong reasons, like when he forces something upon himself through fear, or when a good act is somehow meant to prove something to himself. The pure evilness makes use of two extremes when it comes to mislead human beings, because human beings are not originally being pure evil and they are more likely to be swayed by something which is seemingly between good and bad, or seemingly having both a good part and a bad part in itself. In the beginning there is selfishness and/or self-righteousness, and when either extreme has reached its most extreme form then it becomes pure evilness. It corresponds to that in politics when a far-right ideology (fascism) and far-left ideology (communism) both end up becoming totalitarian, and thereby having more in common with each other than with the moderate/tempered ideologies in the middle. It is like the far-right ideology begins from zero degree/angle to the right while the far-left ideology begins from 180 degree/angle to the left, and they both go downward until both meet at 270 degree/angle (most extreme form). The far-right ideology proves to be selfish while the far-left ideology proves to be self-righteous. The far-right seek to exalt their own people at the expense of foreigners/outsiders, while the far-left seek to exalt foreigners/outsiders at the expense of their own people. The far-right ideology should really be called far-left while the far-left ideology should really be called far-right, because the self-righteous ideology is trying to do the right thing but it goes too far and interferes too much and ends up failing miserably in practice. Let’s say that there would be a family of refugees seeking shelter at a specific place. A selfish man shuts the door of his house/home and he refuses to share anything with the outsiders. That man tells himself that only his own family is important, and that he will not reduce any provision and comfort meant for his family for the sake of strangers that he does not know. A self-righteous man becomes offended by this and he criticizes the selfish man for doing nothing to help the refugees. The self-righteous man claims that of course should the refugees be given shelter and food. But the self-righteous man does not invite the refugees into his own house. He does instead lead the refugees into the house of someone else, without asking that someone for permission, and he drives that someone and his family out of the house to make room for the refugees.
               When selfishness and self-righteousness is involved then it is either held oneself too much back or gone ahead of oneself, where one is either being too cold or too hot, being too soft or too hard, doing too little or too much. Selfish men tend to be overly loose-mannered and self-indulgent, so they deliberately neglect the divinity and slacken to obey its principles. Fanatics do tend to be too stiff and harsh, and they ignorantly go too far in trying to serve the divinity, until it no longer involves the same knowledge and principles that belong to the divinity. In both cases it is neglected the will of the divinity, the moderate middle path which is like the earth among all the other planets, or water in liquid form in contrast to steam (hot air) and ice (hard matter). It is not like selfishness does always involve too little ratio while self-righteousness does always involve too much ratio. A selfish man tends to be reluctant in helping other people (too little), while at the same he is being overly eager in satisfying his selfish desires (too much). A self-righteous man tends to be overly eager in helping other people (too much), while at the same time he is being reluctant in following through the aspirations of his heart (too little). The selfish man does too little in external matters while doing too much in internal matters. The self-righteous man does too much in external matters while doing too little in internal matters. Fanaticism involves vices that are repressive. But when the fanatic accepts repression in his life then he can either be motivated/stimulated by fear of the divinity (too little) or overly eagerness in trying to glorify the divinity (too much). He can be stimulated by both things, by switching from one thing to the other and where one thing does not necessarily exclude the other. That to do too much can lead to too little, and that to do too little can lead to too much. That to add too many needless changes in the society can reduce aspirations and activity in people, while that to neglect to come up with reforms in the society can increase restlessness within the people. That to go too far in satisfying the indulges of the people can lead to apathy in them, while that to do too little to satisfy their needs can make them burst out in hot-headed behaviour. Hence the two extremes can point to each other, where a resentment of one extreme can sway people into going over to the other extreme. When the society has been mismanaged by the self-righteous far-left then people became resentful enough to turn to the selfish far-right. And when the society has been mismanaged by the selfish far-right then people became resentful enough to turn to the self-righteous far-left. Hence the vicious cycle continues. When you see two groups quarrelling and fighting, where one of the group is being selfish and the other group is being self-righteous; then do not take sides. Rather pass by them, and continue forth to the righteous side. The following vices apparently belong to selfishness: pride, greed, vanity, superficiality, pleasure-loving, laziness, irresponsibility, indiscipline, partiality, boastfulness, pettiness, ingratitude, grumbling, self-pity, and cowardice. The following vices apparently belong to self-righteousness: pride, wishful thinking, stubbornness, perfectionism, being overly demanding, recklessness, obtrusiveness, overprotectiveness, self-constraint, self-loathing, self-humiliation, asceticism, pettiness, being accusive/overcritical, revengefulness, and cruelty. And on the religious side it can be added: taking the name of God in vain, innovation of needless and superfluous customs, and overemphasis on the avoidance of trivial matters/habits. There is nothing better or more redeeming about one extreme in comparison to the other, because in both cases the man is being deceived and manipulated by the pure evil source in all its malice. It does involve the same spiritual slavery, although the ideas and vices may seem different. The beginning is not the same, but it will still lead to the same destination, since both extremes are as equally distant from the pure goodness and negligent of virtues.
               It is already obvious to most people what is deemed to be selfish and immature, but it can be more difficult to become aware about the other extreme, what self-righteousness is and involves. Self-righteousness is often mistaken for goodness, or people blame the goodness for the faults and crimes belonging to self-righteousness, when fanatics have openly pretended to do so in its name. Let’s say that there does exist a hero which has been doing many good things and helping many people. Then there is a villain which hates that hero and he tries to undermine the hero in the eyes of other people. That villain goes to those parts in the world which the hero has not yet gone to and where the people have not yet heard about that hero. The villain dresses himself like the hero and calls himself by the same name as the hero. The villain tells everyone that he is being that person (hero), and the villain does all kinds of bad things and he harms many people. And after the villain has left that part of the world then the people there believe that the actual hero is being villain. When the people hear the name of the hero mentioned by the people in those parts of the world where the hero has been doing good things; then the former people object that he is being a hero and they claim that he acted like a villain in their part of the world. It is like the pure evilness does create self-righteousness as a phoney and mocking version of the goodness, where the self-righteous persons that are supposed to be good prove to be so non-understanding and unfair toward other people; that it creates so much resentment in people that they presume that selfishness is actually being better and preferable option in comparison. Self-righteousness is deliberately created as something so obviously foolish and incompetent that it slanders people’s belief that the goodness is actually being wise and competent. The self-righteous man lives in the self-deception that he is being good, because that man has abstained from the weaknesses that belong to the selfish people and ‘not’ committed crimes. But the self-righteous man has replaced such weaknesses with other kind of vices, where he does neither do the selfish thing nor the good thing (what is deemed noble altruistic, selfless). It is neglected and contradicted the goodness in one way or another. When that man notices the weakness of other people then he does not seek to understand it, how it can actually be helped that people to know better and improve in that factor. But the self-righteous man does rather choose to hold such people in contempt, as if the people would be condemned henceforth and deserve to suffer for their faults, since the self-righteous man neglects compassion and mercy belonging to the goodness. It can happen that the self-righteous man seeks to help other people, even that he is contemptuous from within and does not really care for them. But he is in no position to offer advises and helpful intervention, because he is already full of presumptions and impulses. This assistance will prove to be just as imperfect as what that man is, where he is merely attempting to force his delusions and weaknesses upon other people, so they will become just as restricted as him or like an egoistical reflection of himself.
               The self-righteous man seeks to do the lawful thing through selfish reasons, like when it is coveted rewards, and feared to commit crime because he would otherwise be punished. But the self-righteous man does still the same covet selfish things in his heart and he envies the selfish people. That man would behave just like them an opportunity would present itself, or if it seemed like he could get away with it, if the fault would not be revealed. The self-righteous man refuses to show understanding and tolerance to other people, because he has already treated himself in the same way, when being alone with his thoughts and speaking with himself. That kind of standard is too harsh, inhumane, and superficial, where the man is quick to accuse himself for the slightest sign of weakness and like he deserves to suffer for it. The self-righteous man lives in self-constraint, where he is constantly forcing things upon himself, against his own willingness and better judgment. It is like he does only think and behave according to what others expect of him, and to maintain a certain image in the eyes of other people. The self-righteous man does never listen to his own heart, where he does not love and receive himself the way he is. He always prefers the external things above his own spiritual health and freedom, like when it is sought to please people that mean nothing to him, or to prove himself in the eyes of someone else.
               It can happen that the man mistakes self-righteousness for the goodness, where he does not understand the true nature of the goodness and what kind of function does always accompany it. The man only gazes upon the wrong things that should not be done, while he neglects to establish virtues in his life, so they do not spread to other factors. Where there is self-righteousness there is also perfectionism, obsession, and self-constraint. It is sought for the goodness upon a wrong basis, because it is relied upon the mind in order to follow the goodness, while it is neglected the human spirit and its principles. The self-righteous man presumes himself to be following the goodness, when trying to satisfy his obsession and unrealistic goals, even that he is experiencing disruption and chaos at the same time. But where the goodness is there are also benefits, like sobriety, peace, stability, and light-heartedness. Self-righteousness is about overly eagerness for a brief time, where it is failed to maintain previous success and other kinds of problems will emerge instead. The man forces it upon himself to do all kinds of things in order to appease the superficial standard of the mind. The man struggles against needless problems in his mind, and he tries to abstain from insignificant habits, and he tries to please people that mean nothing to him. The man presumes that he is obtaining progress through such self-constraint, but the determination and the conduct will only last for a brief time. The man will strain himself too much, and finally give up on this self-righteous attempt. Once it has been given up on the self-righteous attempt then everything reverts to the same old selfishness. It is thereby a fact that the man did never follow the goodness from the outset, but he went from selfishness to self-righteousness, and then back from self-righteousness to selfishness. The man blames the goodness for the self-constraint during that extreme, and presumes that it is impossible to believe in the goodness and follow it. The man only had himself to blame for getting ahead of himself, where he sought to do too many things at the same time and overreached himself in the end. But the goodness is all about moderation, where it is taken one thing at a time and where many small things do steadily contribute to one great result.

2.3: Identifying the Threat

It should not be presumed that the mind in the mental patient is of some another nature than in the healthy people. It is indeed true that the human spirit is the good nature and the mind is the evil nature, but the mind itself is not divided into two different nature’s that are either good or bad. A healthy man is not as much wrong in comparison to the far-fetched and extreme opinions of a mental patient, but it can still merely involve different distance at the same wrong basis. For the foolishness of one man makes him unable to obtain success with selfish goals, while the craftiness of another man makes him able to deceive other people and exploit them. But both parties are still the same as equally distant from the higher truth and its pure goodness. A healthy man can be more aware about that what possibilities prove to be wrong, so he can thereby criticize such things in order to disprove them or deride other men. But that same man is still unable to come up with any right answers and solutions instead, and he is in no better position than other men, since even that it can be noticed the ignorance of other men then it does not make the man himself any wiser. It is a fact that delusions, hallucinations, and schizophrenic voices do exist, and they can be experienced by a mental patient. But it is not the same thing as if such things were being true in themselves, even as when it is known that a liar does lie but the lie itself is not true. Therefore when a mental patient claims that it is like thoughts are being inserted into his head then it should not be disregarded. For such delusions will continue to befall the mental patient, regardless of his current attitude and experienced circumstance. So he does not have any choice about it, and he cannot prevent such delusions from appearing forth in his mind. The healthy people can presume that the bad judgement of the mental patient does reach to all factors, and they do thereby not believe it when he claims such things happening within him. But the healthy people are receiving other kinds of delusions at the same time, where the thoughts seem to be more logical but it does still involve half-truths mixed with lies.
               It can obviously be presumed that it is the human brain itself which arouses thoughts and imaginations, because of a specific function somewhere in the brain or the nervous system. However, it is not a question about the consequence, or after-effects, but rather what kind of stimulus does produce such thoughts in the first place. It is true that through science it can be noticed change of activity in the brain, but it should not be mistaken the consequence for being the cause. For example, if a man is being hit forcefully by someone then his body will respond with specific effects, but it does not mean that these body effects came first all on their own. It does seem incredibly coincidental that all thoughts prove to be lies and deceptions, involving selfish or self-righteous influence that seeks to corrupt the man’s premises, so the man will come up with wrong assumptions and reactions. All these thoughts and imaginations never involve a complete truth, and it never influences pure goodness. The brain and the nervous system is complicated, but not that complicated that it can separate itself from the man and become an independent life-form, meddling with everything and trying to force its decisions upon the man, against his consent. Or why does it happen that the ‘brain’ keeps mentioning bad incidents from the past, many ones in a row, as if ‘brain’ would only pick them over all memories and deliberately seek to drag the man down? The mind plays trick upon the man, because the mind is a trickster with a will of its own. Behind every movement within the man there is a good or evil spirit. It follows the presence of that spiritual messenger, for better or worse. A spirit breathes/transmits its thoughts into the man. It happens telepathically. It cannot be seen that spiritual being, and yet there is heard a voice or thought. So where there is a voice there must also be a speaker, as there is a cause behind a consequence. It is not like the man is struggling against himself and trying to have the final word, since all kinds of selfish opinions continue to emerge even that he is against them. Only a living being does possess a will of its own, is able to speak and make itself comprehensible, but it is not something which does come out from nothing, in the man’s mind. It is a logical tactic when the mind does come up with thoughts in between which seem to be positive, creating the false impression that thoughts are being good or bad at random, rather than by being always bad. Therefore will the man not be as steadfast in rejecting all thoughts, but he allows himself to be fooled by flattering lies and self-righteous thoughts. It does correspond to the interrogational method called ‘Good cop, Bad cop’. For that specific types of voices and negative thoughts attack the man in a personal way, while another type of voices and ‘positive’ thoughts seem friendly (flattering) toward the man. But the former has been made for the very purpose of making the latter temptations seem more convincing in comparison.
               As it is delved deeper into contemplations then the conclusion will be even more distant from the truth, since it has been digressed more and more from the original sense of the human spirit. It can begin with a question about something which is not known the answer to, even that it is not necessary in the current situation and will either way be of no practical use. One contemplations lead to another, and so forth, but the distance will increase between the first contemplations and the subsequent ones. In the end there is no context between the first contemplation and the last one, but it only involves an irrelevant argument, a red herring, like a beautiful or clever answer which belongs to entirely different question. It does correspond to that when two men are arguing about something, and then one thing will lead to another in the heat of the moment, until they are beginning to quarrel about trivial and petty issues. And one of them can seem to have the final word and get the better of the opponent, but both of them have totally forgotten what this was all about. The mind can at most come up with suggestive and misleading questions, which are meant to cast doubt upon the truth, and there is really nothing more to it. It cannot be discovered a wise answer if the question is stupid, nor truthful answer if the question is false. The very need for that question proves to be unfounded, where the mind deceives the man into thinking that this is being his concern when it is not being his concern. If it is sought for something which is being too distant then it is failed to notice that which is being near and which can be done something about. Needless contemplations will only lead to needless reactions, which will in turn create false impression, misunderstanding, and selfish problems, like it had happened at random. Since there was no need for such reactions then it is a sign that one should never have contemplated to begin with, no matter how urgent it seemed to be at that time.
               It can be discoursed upon that when the man experiences a good mood, where the man can feel an inner spark and rousing in his spirit, which makes him light-hearted and loose-mannered. It has nothing to do with ‘positive’ thoughts at the same time, as if such thought had caused the good mood. A good mood is rather originated in the divine good spirit and mutual love during human relations. The human spirit is the cause, and the good mood is the consequence, while the ‘positive’ thoughts are only incidental. The goodness is capable of reviving the man’s spirit, in making him lively again. It is something which has already happened from within, even before the man became aware of it. It was not because the man was thinking ‘positively’ about something and then it changed his condition, but good mood happened like a free gift in a silent/discreet way. If the human spirit is absent then the man can attempt to come up with exactly the same ‘positive’ thoughts, and try to cheer himself up, but nothing will ever happen/change in his soul. Positive thoughts prove to be self-righteous in their nature, because they lie too much optimism that will never work out in practice, and they try to see something beautiful about the ugliness within other people. Like when the man becomes overly positive toward false and hypocritical people, where he has an initiative in seeking their company and being open and friendly to them. But the false and hypocritical people keep rejecting his company and being closed and hostile to him. Nothing has changed about these people. What has hitherto been happening will continue to happen. The positive thoughts deceived the man into being concerned about the stance and opinions of those that do not care about him, so that he takes it too personally when they treat him like garbage. The positive thoughts will thereby only lead to disappointment and bitterness, so it will actually work against the good mood had in the beginning. It might at first seem that such thoughts involve a ‘positive’ voice in the mind. But the mind is actually coming up with a stupid suggestion in order to mock the man, even as when a false and treacherous person does tend to speak in a pretentious and exaggerated tone.

It can be mentioned the quibbles and doubts which follow the ego-tones of the mind, where such issues can apply to many things and according to that what vices are involved. Quibbles and doubts can be the most basic temptations which one should watch out for, since it can function as the stimulus behind vices rather than by being the vices themselves. It is always through subjective quibbles and doubts that there is sought to slander and undermine the possibilities of the goodness, so the man will soon give up on the goodness and thereby give up on himself as well. These temptations do never stop at that (the doubt), for there does always follow an assumption or encouragement, that the man should begin misusing and wasting the good things in his life. The man should not become troubled by that how clever and convincing such arguments can be, because it does always lead to the same destination, namely faithlessness and hypocrisy. For example, the faithless man will spiritually give up and try to enjoy as many selfish pleasures before he dies, as if this was a meaningless existence and nothing to be hoped for. Or the faithless man ceases to try to change for the better and there is nothing good he tries to contribute to the society, while he only tries to ruin the work of other people and to drag many people down with his fall, through his hatred and envy of their healthy/successful lives. But let’s again consider the ego-tones of the mind mentioned in the beginning. The man does first experience a specific type of thought, and then it immediately arouses something selfish in him, or the man instantly reacts in a selfish way (by gloating and quibbling in an egoistical tone about something). The man is not actually saying something out loud, but he gloats in his face while telling himself something selfish in his mind. But both the thought and the rousing/reaction are part of the same temptation, involving an automatic process. The man would still the same have experienced such selfish rousing/reaction, even that he had been perfect on his behalf prior to the experience. This is not something which could have been prevented, or like the man could separate the two issues from each other, since the temptation would either way affect him in some way. The man experiences things in such a selfish and quibbling way, and yet he has still not made a choice about it. The man can still reject this experience afterwards and abstain from that in quibbling something out loud to other people. That this selfish thing is at least not being drawn out from his heart when the man opens his mouth and tells/judges something about other people, so that he is not being condemned by his own speech. What can be said about that when the faith in God has still not reached to the inner-most part (heart) of the person. When the person is still being selfish and ungrateful and contemptuous then such attitude can be likened to a dark face/mask which keeps coming between the message of God and that person’s understanding. The person can hear from other people what is being true and right in the situation, but this message does stop at the person’s gloating dark face/mask underneath, and cannot enter further into the person’s heart. Like when it is heard the word of God then the person will instantly experience bad face in itself regarding it, by seeing something contemptible and mocking about it. This gloating dark face/mask is the same thing as an inner/spiritual wall blocking all right endeavour and progress. If one is being gripped by dark face underneath then one needs to confess the truth about it when praying to God, and ask God for help that one might become detached from such bad attitude.
               It would be a pointless thing to try enumerate/describe every possible lie, doubt, quibble, and deception, because there is no end to lies and wrong possibilities which can be invented to contradict the one truth which applies (as in mathematics). Half-truths mixed with lies are still the same false in whole, and to be disregarded completely. It is always the truth which disproves lies, while it is never lies in which are able to disprove the truth, no matter what kind of doubt they attempt to cast over it. The light does brighten the darkness away, while it is not the darkness the darkens the light away. The darkness can at most deceive the man into seeing something dark about the light, when the man has still not gone over to the light and he remains in dark place. Or the darkness can at most cover the man’s eyes and block his eyes from seeing the light on the other side. The truth is based upon facts, reflecting that which does really exist, what is the true merit and capability of every being, what has already taken place and will surely happen. But lies are mere words, in which lack all substance and are uttered by a worthless being, which resorts to lies in order to conceal its own weakness and incompetence. Lies are eagerly welcomed and clung to by those whom are proud, whom do already presume that they know everything and become hostile when someone points out the humble truth to them (a rebuke which disproves the proud inclinations they are having). Lies do never make any impression upon the divinity, since its truth is always able to reveal everything and see any being as it is. It does thereby not matter whether lies can seem to be persuasive and tricky at first, because the lies can still the same never harm the actual truth, still being stationed firm upon its basis. It does correspond to that when presumptuous men attack their own understanding of other people, while the very same people have the right on their side and are innocent of all charges.
               It does never work out to make a compromise between the goodness and the evilness, by choosing the ‘lesser’ evil. The human race can call it the grey path, or the neutral path, which is supposed to be neither good nor bad. However, even that the grey colour is not black then it is still the same not white. And even that the man makes a compromise and chooses the lesser evil then it will still never stop at that. For the man will be tempted with more compromises, on top of the previous ones, until he has become more deranged and corrupt with the time. It was originally rejected the white colour and chosen the grey colour, and then afterwards it was chosen the colour between grey and black, and again between, until it has become wholly black. All evil influence should be rejected from the outset, in an unconditional way. A lesser evil is as equally wrong as a greater evil, because it does belong to the same evil nature and contradicts the goodness. Crimes and evil deeds may seem different, but it does still involve the same unloving and uncaring attitude behind it. The man needs to renounce all the wrong things in his life, and have a fresh start. It should not be made new compromises in order to get nearer to the goodness, like if it would involve a colour between grey and white, by decreasing the selfishness further. For such compromises do still involve a weakness and corruption, absent from the pure goodness. It also means that the man is still listening to the mind and obeying it in the greater matters, so the man does only make things harder for himself in the process.
               It can be mentioned when a mental patient experiences and believes far-fetched delusions. Such absurd thoughts and imaginations are not really the root of the problem, but it does merely involve incidental things, after the mind has isolated the person in the long run. The mental patient can be afraid of the uncontrollable unpleasant thoughts that are haunting him, so that he is unable to handle the pressure for long and vanishes into the mind. It is like the man is constantly trying to save himself from such delusions, but by doing so he neglects everything else at the same time and becomes too distracted to focus upon anything. The man is no longer with himself, and he has already been weakened from within. Then afterwards will appear far-fetched thoughts about something else, which the man believes and shares with other people, so he makes a fool out of himself in their eyes. The man did not become sick because of these far-fetched delusions, but he was already overcome by another problem, which thrived upon his fears and distress and guilt. It does correspond to that when a man is intoxicated by alcohol or drugs, which other people can come to notice and they are able to exploit him in such condition. The real problem did not actually consist in the people involved, what they had said or done, but it was the intoxication which made the man already weak and vulnerable in all things. If the man had remained sober then he would easily have seen through such people, so it had everything to do about his internal condition but nothing about their merit. Far-fetched delusions are like vultures, feeding upon a carcass killed by another cause. The evil spirits put their own words into the mind of the spiritually intoxicated person, and when that person repeats these foolish words they had suggested then it can seem humiliating in the eyes of other people. But these evil spirits possess the greater blame for having exploited a person which was already sick, namely too sick to know the difference between right and wrong. And when these evil spirits are at work in the minds of ordinary people then they mention again the foolish words of the mental patient and mock his humiliating incident, when these evil spirits were really being the authors of the same things. They told him to tell these things to other people, and now they accuse him of that in having told the things which they said to him.
               The mind can come up with memories about one’s past faults in order to arouse guilt and forced confrontation of it, but it is thereby tempted one of the very same evil possibilities in the present time. It is not only reminded one about the misspeaking and misdeeds in the past, but it is also reminded one about the selfish attitude and corrupt mindset that had led to it. The man experiences all kinds of self-accusations from the mind, like he will always be a bad person and could just as well give up, repeating the same errors all over again. This is why memories can create a vicious cycle, where the man’s guilt will keep the same temptations alive, so he will make it harder for himself to learn from it and improve. The man should rather reject all memories from the outset, and free himself from the original cause, so that he will no longer consider evil possibilities nor implicate it too personally to himself. For the man is actually being better off having no awareness about such things at all. All temptations and corruption should be rejected in an unconditional way, regardless of that whether the man had once inclined to it or not, practiced it or not. We should of course never speak of improper and indecent things while we are having company with other people. And we should neither remind ourselves of such evil possibilities while we are all alone, since that we are supposed to love ourselves and treat ourselves with dignity. Just like we are not meant to mention people’s past faults and accuse them for it; then we are not meant to remind ourselves of our past faults and accuse ourselves for it. Just like we are not meant to exploit the weaknesses and past humiliation of other people; then we are not meant to allow ourselves to be exploited by the mind in our matters. The man is never alone, because the divinity is always with him, so that no temptations should be spoken of. The man should not even rely upon any arguments and methods against the accusive thoughts, because it will also keep the problem alive, and tempt him in exactly the same way.
               The mental patient can experience unordinary activity within himself, which can appear forth in many signs and symptoms. These signs give a misleading impression, a misleading cause and effect, which makes the man become superstitious over his choices, constantly re-evaluating everything and changing his decisions. It is presumed that if it is experienced a ‘good’ sign in the body at the same time as something is being considered; then that considered thing must be good. And if it is experienced a bad sign in the body at the same time as something is being considered; then that considered thing must be bad. The man presumes that the bad signs in his body have been caused by his intended words or actions, so he does not dare to be bold and selfless in contrasting the signs. And he is constantly waiting for a ‘good’ sign to happen in his body to confirm that something should be followed through. It is totally disregarded personal conviction and understanding and morality when making a choice. It can be mentioned fleeting sensations like something soft and lukewarm presses the head, a pressure in the head like something is moving inside it, a strange smell, strange perceptions like it is sensed the presence of something (cold breeze), long gasps without tiredness, an uncontrollable sounds or words that come up in one’s mouth for a brief time, and other kinds of body quirks. All such signs do spring at random because of an underlying corruption. It does not mean that the signs themselves do testify whether something is being corrupt or not. The man has dwelt upon bad things for such a long time that it has disrupted the activity within him. The man is unable to overcome such symptoms in a direct way, but he must rather overcome his weaknesses. It is not like the man can pretend to be good until these symptoms will finally vanish, but he must rather assume responsibility of his recent choices, and endure the consequences.

Psychology does emphasis what most upon the mind and its potential, where it is believed that through the mind can be controlled how it is received all factors in life, and shaped/reshaped every experience into a favourable one. The psychological systems are originated from the mind itself, what kind of terms and explanations have been invented, or negative factors categorized and rearranged. All such hindrances and solutions are invented by the mind, and do only exist in the mind. It is undergone all these things through the mind, but if the mind would not be meddling/obtruding in our lives then we would have been spared from it. It is known about lies through the liar, but if the liar would not exist then these lies would be unknown. The mind can lie endlessly about anyone and anything, creating new problems and new excuses which afflict the self-centred people. It does not matter whether psychologists create new names for mental illnesses and arrange various symptoms together, since all such things are either way originated from the same evil source. It is only sufficient to identify the evil nature, the original tempter, the conjuror of all problems, rather than by struggling against illusions that the mind has been creating at random. It is thereby first identified the threat, and next sought to know how to overcome it. It can be said that a psychologist does first invent a problem, and next he does invent solutions to the same imagined problem, so that both of them are a mere illusions. It has more to say about the psychologist himself than the person whom he seeks to help, since he does ascribe his own thoughts and imaginations to other people. For example, the psychologist can first receive an idea and explanation from the mind, where such presumption could be experienced by the psychologist at random anywhere and at anytime. The psychologist does next seek to implicate such thoughts to other people in advance, even before he has met with such people and known their personal experience. It does not matter whether a fake-problem can be solved or not, because the real cause remains intact. It is like the psychologist can at most cut down the bad fruits or branches of the bad tree, while the roots are left untouched, making the rest of the tree able to grow back. The mind does have exactly the same nature in all men, whether a psychologist is involved or his patient. Both of them will experience selfish desires, delusions, and impulses, where there is nothing better or more redeemable about it, but it will always be as equally wrong. It does not make any sense that only the mental patient is supposed to experience improper thoughts, while the psychologist is somehow being exempted from it.
               The mind does first tempt the man into yielding to wickedness in his heart and conduct, and then afterwards it is mentioned all kinds of incidents from the past in order to justify it. It was not the past which made the man become evil, or influenced him to commit a crime, because the man had already chosen to do it and then later came up with pretexts. It was the mind which tempted the man into becoming evil, and the man yielded because of his own faithlessness, but it had nothing to do with these or those reasons. The mind is to be blamed for its distorted use of the past to manipulate the man into reliving its bad experience. The bad past can likened to a sleight of hand of a pickpocket. The thief/pickpocket keeps distracting the man by speaking and pointing to a certain direction, while grasping some object on the man at the same time. Even so the mind does deliberately mention the past in the worst possible way to make the man resentful enough to be pointed into an angry course of action. It was the mind which manipulated the man through the past. It was not really the past itself which sprang forth to life on its own and made the man do something against his better judgment. All this experience became bad because of the bad presence of the bad person. That bad person mentioned everything in a bad way, not because these things were really being bad but because the bad person reflected its badness upon them. Once the bad person leaves the scene then there is no longer bad experience. All of this begins with the arrival of the bad person and it ends at its departure.
               Psychology makes use of advices from the mind against problems which the mind itself has created. The same improper advices are to the only effect in overcomplicating the man’s life, where it makes him too conscious about all the wrong things and he keeps reacting to them every time. It is like the psychological methods and delusions will sharpen each other’s existence. The mind offers bad advices against itself in order to keep the man in check through self-constraint. The man does first listen to delusions about the approach, what he is either allowed or forbidden to do, and next the man restricts himself in advance. The man will not know how to overcome the mind, because he is struggling against irrelevant issues or making use of foolish means against temptations. The man presumes that the problem consist in everything else but the mind itself. The most common error does consist in that when the man does rely upon lies against lies, and tricks against tricks, rather than by having faith in the humble truth. This means that the man will not confess the truth about his position, nor be sincere about that what he really wants. But the man does rather try to discover some kind of ultimate argument or trick, which can then be used as ‘weapon’ or ‘shield’ against temptations, to make them go away once and for all. The man will then keep repeating the same bullshit to himself, to defend himself from aggressive thoughts, even that he does not mean such words in his heart and will not act upon it. The man should not be programmed like a robot, in being always obligated in reacting to every delusion and with insincere expression each time, as if it was always expected of him. It cannot be expected that the man can become a better liar than the mind, able to outsmart the mind in craftiness and deception, when it comes to that in having the final word and silencing the opponent. It applies when the man makes use of insincere answers against subjective problems, which is the same thing as evil against evil, or temptations against temptations. The man can rely upon methodology, defensive formulas, and self-centred arguments, which is to the only effect in making him even more insincere and self-absorbed. The shadow does follow the man, but the man does not follow after his own shadow. It is not like the man’s whole life should be centred upon that in reacting to the shadow, as if the man needed to wait in a preparatory position until the shadow will first move. But it is only sufficient for the man to move on with his life, and have the initiative on his side. The man has not been given existence for the sole purpose of wasting his time upon subjective problems, by being on the defensive, chasing after illusions or trying to save himself from it. For that by doing so the man will neglect to have a meaningful existence, where even that the body is still being alive then there is no spirit to fill the heart and soul with life. It is like the man is willing to promise anything and pretend to be anything in order to escape from opposition, so that all his choices are nothing but countermeasures to delusions. It would have been better if the man had just stood his ground (same one stance), being willing to suffer for his conviction and endure any opposition from the mind.
               A sick man should never apply many remedies from many physicians at the same time. For that all such remedies would only contradict one another and further disrupt the man’s health. The man would not know which remedy is being the right one, and which ones do not work out. A wrong remedy can work against the right remedy, or afterwards steal all the credit from the right remedy when the latter works. The man ignorantly believes that the wrong remedy had been the one to heal him, when that remedy only proved to be incidental. It would have been better if the man had relied upon one physician at a time, and only one remedy at a time, so that he could evaluate the effects in the long run, belonging to each one. It is exactly the same thing with mental illness, where the man should not rely upon many arguments and tricks at the same time, which do not even belong to the same person and the same source. It is not based upon mere quantity of words whether an answer will work, or how often it can be repeated, but it is rather based upon the man’s own faith/conviction, determination, and patience. It is much more efficient when the man believes in one right possibility, and then keep himself to that choice in the long run, to experience it lasting value for himself. But it does not make any sense to flee from one remedy to another, when the man is being too cowardly to face opposition and immediately tries to hide behind something else. It is not possible to invent some kind of argument and trick that can prevent delusions from happening, because it is the mind which is speaking it but not the man himself. The man should continue to be free, and convince himself about the right course in his life, rather than by seeking to change the mind or seek to convince it to cease its opposition.
               It is not like the man should become desperate if he does not yet know the ‘correct’ answer to delusions, since he is either way not obligated in replying to them in the first place. A silence can be an answer in itself, and that to be indifferent can be a decision in itself, where it is simply ignored/shunned delusions or not shown any reaction at all. The man does not actually need to do anything, where he does not need to save himself from delusions, by being on the defensive and try to resist the delusions through fear of losing self-control. The man will either way not lose self-control, nor comply with such temptations when choices need to be made in circumstances (in due time), if the man will only believe in the divinity and allow it to fight his spiritual battles. It should be looked upon this in context with this work (what I have written) and the purpose of its teachings. The man is not supposed to make use of its words in order to defend himself from temptations, but rather know/understand the words silently with himself. That the man does not tell it to the mind, but rather tells himself what needs to be done. The man does only need to know the words for himself alone, what is within his control to decide and choose, what to change and approach differently, what to pursue or abstain from. The man can thereby just as well continue to do the right thing on his behalf, without relying upon the mind at all, nor by struggling against mind directly (as the other extreme). The words of this work are not supposed to control the reader by their mere form, but it is rather about understanding the spirit of the words and its meaning. It can namely happen that the mind will quote this work in some way, which may seem to be an accurate memory. But then the mind is implicating the teachings to irrelevant circumstances, where it is taken the words out of context, or spoken the words in an exaggerated tone to cast doubt upon it. It does thereby involve half-truths mixed with lies, or principles mixed with false assumptions. It is one thing to come across the original meaning of this work, but it is another thing ‘when’ such words do really apply in the current situation, over other options.