Anatomy of the Soul: Reprogramming the subconscious mind.

Part I
Basic Anatomy of the Soul

Lately, I have taken an interest in the workings of the subconscious mind. It started when I was at the county fair a few years ago, while watching a hypnotist hypnotize members of the crowd. I was amazed at how a simple suggestion, carefully planted into the subconscious mind, could wildly influence the stream of consciousness. So I started doing some research. I looked up some youtube videos on hypnosis, read some chapters from psychology books, listened to a lecture or two...the more I learned, the more I wanted to compare my findings with Biblical content.

I learned that the Bible had a lot to say about the anatomy of the soul in general, but that there was no clearly defined barrier between the consciousness and subconsciousness. It seems more likely that consciousness is like a spectrum: consciousness being the higher frequency states, and subconciousness being the lower frequency states. This is important, because the Bible distinguishes between the Mind and Heart, yet both of them seem to operate on conscious and subconscious levels.

Here is my working theory on the Biblical Anatomical Structure of the Human Soul, as of yet:

1) The Eye: It is our sense of perception. Based on the content of our Minds and the will of our Hearts, the eye sees and judges familiar data based on conceptual standards and beliefs that we have already learned and formulated.

2) The Mouth: This is how the soul takes in new knowledge. We eat the bread, drink the wine, thirst for clean water, and pray with our lips for understanding. Unlike the eyes, the mouth cannot provide perspective, as it is taking in information that has not yet been tested with faith and application.

3) The Stomach and Bowels: I categorize these as the emotions. The stomach can crave knowledge, be satisfied, or even become nauseated. The bowels can absorb the knowledge into the bloodstream (of consciousness) or it can violently reject it. Notice how extreme experiences can evoke emotions powerful enough to tie knots in the stomach, irritate the bowels, and cause the heart to race. If left unchecked, emotions can have too much influence on the will/rhythm of the heart.

4) The (Blood)stream of Consciousness: Once the knowledge is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream, it is circulated. This represents our thoughts. The blood contains cocktail of cells, hormones, and chemical compounds, just as our thoughts can race with a cocktail of ideas.

5) The Heart: While in the bloodstream, the knowledge is pumped through the heart, where we can then form and assign opinions and attitudes. For example, we often assume that pain is bad, comfort is good, work is boring, etc. The heart is our source of faith, will, and mental attitudes.

6) The Kidneys/Reigns: Once the heart has judged the knowledge by associating it with attitudes, the knowledge is stored in the kidneys as wisdom. This is knowledge that has been integrated into the body of the soul, and can then filter the thoughts of the bloodstream as they are filtered through the kidneys. Some of these wisdom-filtered thoughts are either stored or eliminated, while the remaining useful compounds are then circulated back through the heart for attitude assignment. Basically building precept upon precept. Kidneys filled with toxic knowledge will flood the bloodstream of consciousness with evil, which will harden the heart.

7) The Crown: The crown signifies the glory of the soul. Based on the knowledge that you have taken in, processed, metabolized, applied, and stored away, your crown can either be a crown of righteousness or a crown of evil.

Now that I have established my working theory, I can now explore possibilities for reprogramming the subconscious mind and heart, for the edification of the soul.

Part II
Searching the Minds and Hearts

Rev 2:23 "...and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the kidneys and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds."

It is interesting that the above passage would state that Jesus searches the kidneys and hearts of man. Your English translation probably says something along the lines of "minds and hearts", or "affections and intents", but the Greek says νεφροὺς (kidneys) and καρδίας (hearts). What makes this so interesting, is that the kidneys of blood sacrifices in the OT were offered up and burned for the Lord to examine (Lev 3:3-5). The smoke was said to be a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The same is also said about the prayers of believers (Psalm 141:2).

So, what this tells me is that God is interested in the content of our minds. Our works will be judged by the knowledge of our minds manifested through the will of our hearts (Rev 2:23). If we are to rehabilitate and build up our souls (after salvation by faith in Christ), we have to fill our minds with divine knowledge (the Word of God), and apply that knowledge to our lives with our hearts.

This sounds like a simple process, but it calls for reprogramming. Out with the old and in with the new. All our lives, we have learned the ways of the world. Much of the knowledge we possess is corrupted....so much, that it builds up in our subconscious minds, floods the stream of consciousness, and our hearts react negatively, resulting in evil deeds, anxiety, and negative emotional reactions as a series of natural defense mechanisms against the outside world.

There must be a way to cut through all this scare tissue in the soul. There must be a more effective way to incept Biblical principles directly into the subconscious mind to allow the healing process to begin.

Hmmmmm........

An interesting thing about the brain/mind and the 'soul'... its well documented that endless people that take head injuries have all sorts of different versions of permanent personality changes.

And then theres stuff like Alzheimer's.

And nevermind Split Brain's (what happens with people whom need the connections between each hemisphere severed...

Part III

Reprogramming the Subconscious Mind

As stated towards the end of Part II, the soul must be rehabilitated. Knowledge can be forgotten, but never lost. Even forgotten and repressed knowledge can resurface with the aid of hypnotherapy, but there is no known way to unknow something. Therefore, the next best solution would be to counteract corrupt knowledge by flooding it with superior knowledge. A simple way to do this would be to study and apply the Word of God in our every day lives. This involves going to church under a divinely appointed pastor-teacher, group Bible study, individual Bible study, reflection upon learned knowledge, and prayer...but, can there be a way to accelerate this process? Perhaps a way to "download" the Word of God (so to speak) directly into the deepest recesses of the soul? This is a possibility that I have started experimenting with.

Hypnosis and Eastern style meditation share many similarities. They often utilized specialized breathing techniques designed to relax the body, causing the brain to enter altered levels of activities. This tends to open the subconscious mind to suggestion. When the heart embraces these suggestions, they take root and begin to grow. This allows smokers to stop smoking with hypnotherapy. It allows people to change their habits and perspectives on daily life. If suggestion can have this level of power, why not use the Word of God?

To put it simply; meditation, deep breathing, coupled with prayer and Biblical "mantras"...

The Bible, in its ancient languages, was designed to be memorized and chanted/sung. Most people don't realize that the Bible is metered in heptameter (syllable counts divisible by 7 per syntactical paragraphs). The text uses recurrent phrases and terms distributed in heptameter to form a poetic cadence to aid in memorization. When all these factors are taken together, the Bible becomes a long book of spiritual hypnotherapy. Very few people understand this, because very few people study directly from the Hebrew and Greek texts. I myself am just beginning to explore this new world of knowledge.

So this is what I have started doing. (You must be a believer in Christ for this to have the desired effect. Simply believe that Jesus died for our sins, and you are saved. Then the lifelong process of soul-rehabilitation can begin.)

1) Sit down (or lay down) in a comfortable position, and use 1John 1:9 to confess all known sins directly to God the Father. This is done in thought, in the privacy of your soul to establish an open line of communication between you and God during prayer and Bible study. Use this as often as you need to...as often as you sin.

2) Inhale over the course of 10 seconds, and exhale over the course of 10 seconds. Repeat this throughout the duration of your meditation session. This will slow your heart rate, and encourage mental and physical relaxation. The goal is to clear your stream of consciousness so that you can focus solely on the Scripture(s) and prayer.

3) Begin to recite your Bible scripture mantra. Choose a verse from the Bible, that you understand. One that has significant value and meaning that you believe will do good in your soul. I prefer to recite it in Hebrew/Greek, for metric purposes, but as long as you have an accurate translation and a clear understanding of what you're reciting, you should be fine.

4) As you are reciting your scriptural verse, commit it to memory. Think about it as a seed entering healthy soil, sprouting and taking root in your soul (Luke 8:4-8). Think about what the scripture is communicating. Ask God to reveal what it means, and how it ties to other scriptures, how you can apply it in your life.

5) Repeat this process throughout the week until you feel confident that you have absorbed the knowledge deep into your soul, and move on to another scripture. Choose something related, so that you can build precept upon precept, line upon line.


Here is the mantra that I use. I started with one verse, and added more until I formed a blended scriptural paragraph. These are scriptures that I have memorized while working, but I just recently started mixing it with meditation.

CLICK ON THE LINKS TO SEE THE HEBREW TRANSLITEREATED INTO ENGLISH.

Prov 25:2 It is the glory of God to hide the Word, but the glory of kings to seek out the Word.

Prov 25:3 As the Heavens are high and the earth deep, so are the hearts of kings unsearchable.

Prov 20:27 The lamp of the Lord is the breath of man, inspecting every hidden chamber of the belly.

Prov 20:28 Mercy and truth preserve the king, and by mercy is his throne upheld.

The next verse I plan on adding to this will be Psalm 23:3.

Psalm 23:3 My soul He restores. He leads me in the entrenched paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.

This will be a work in progress for me, and it will likely take some time for me to notice any change in my thinking patterns, but I think it will be effective. I will be updating this thread form time to time with tips and observations as I go along. I encourage you to let me know how it works for you, should you choose to try a similar technique.

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

Yeah, the case that fascinates me the most is that of the real Rainman. Apparently he can read two pages of worth of data (one page for each eye) in under 10 seconds, and he can retain all of the knowledge. Its a phenomenal gift, but it comes at a costly price.



Nevertheless, I wonder, is it the brain that is damaged, or the soul. I am under the impression that the brain is how the soul interacts with the world, as a driver would operate a vehicle.

Cute bias

a reply to: GreenGunther

I never said my op would not be biased. These are my subjective observations filtered through my world view. The point is trying to understand the workings of the subconscience.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
...I learned that the Bible had a lot to say about the anatomy of the soul in general,

The bible never defined a Soul, nor can it.
It has no clue, as man has had no clue until now!

We are all unique Conscious Perspectives (Souls) that perceive that which is before us, each and every moment of unchanging Universal/Self existence!
Souls are not made of anything, cannot be affected by the passing flickering picture show and are but momentary, like the Universe!

You physical redefinitions and warpages in relation to 'perception' and 'Souls' is absurd.
Every one of them!

"It is not the eye that perceives light and color, nor the ear that perceives sound, nor the brain that perceives thought!"

a reply to: namelesss

You may have you're own opinions on what the soul is, and how it functions, but the Bible does define various elements of the soul, its function, and the prescribed path to restoration. I don't think its anymore "absurd" than your own subjective view.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: namelesss

You may have you're own opinions on what the soul is, and how it functions, but the Bible does define various elements of the soul, its function, and the prescribed path to restoration. I don't think its anymore "absurd" than your own subjective view.

All Perspectives are subjective.
And a critical analysis reveals the absurdity.
If you accept the bible as the source of all that you think that you Know, our conversation ends here.
You already know it all.
I just can't discuss rationally with someone unable or unwilling to think rationally; a symptom of a belief infection is the inhibiting of cognitive and intellectual function.
(A self defense response.)

"The great snare of thought is the uncritical acceptance of irrational assumptions!" - Will Durant

'Opinions' that can be logically supported, experientially supported, philosophically supported, scientifically supported, rationally supported... (at which point 'opinions' become 'theories'... until refuted), fall to dust/are ignored, elicit symptomatic responses... if they are perceived to 'threatened' 'beliefs' (ego)!

Anyway, thank you for the discussion thus far.
Peace. *__-

a reply to: namelesss

our conversation ends here....

I just can't discuss rationally with someone unable or unwilling to think rationally; a symptom of a belief infection is the inhibiting of cognitive and intellectual function.
(A self defense response.)

You know, there is a defense mechanism called Projection, "whereby unenviable or unpleasant traits, impulses or ideas are attributed to another. In this way, the projector is able to avoid the unpleasantness in themselves."

Disagreeing with me is one thing, but assuming my theory to be any more absurd than yours, and being unwilling to discuss why,...well, it just sounds to me that your objection is to your own world view, not necessarily mine.

With that said, I'm not saying that my theory has any merit (I am open to constructive criticism), but it seems like you came here with the wrong attitude.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

Good for you. I shall keep checking in on this one, see how it's going. I too need to reset my focus.

Here are a few verse that come to mind that have stuck with me regarding reading Gods Word as a new creation.

Instructions from God to Joshua who was about to take over for Moses:

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”
‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬
bible.com...

Setting ones self apart but not hiding:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12:2‬ ‭ESV‬‬
bible.com...

We as believers are born again, a new creation. Can't put new wine into old wine skins:

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins."”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭2:22‬ ‭ESV‬‬
bible.com...

Thanks for posting

a reply to: Observationalist

Lol, my pastor was delivering a sermon on how scriptures rehabilitate the sub conscious mind, and he spent quite a bit of time on the new wine and new wine skins. Just funny that you should mention it.