Silva Mind Control – Program 4 Read Part 4

By: Jose Silva, Dr. George DeSau, Dave Hunt, Dr. John Weldon; ©1986

Is it true, as Jose Silva claims, that when the kingdom of heaven is within reach we can cure diseases such as cancer and raise the dead?

The Power to Raise the Dead

Ankerberg: Welcome. We’re talking tonight about the Silva Mind Control technique that more than six million people in more than 67 countries have taken.

Silva: Seventy-one, John.

Ankerberg: Seventy-one. I’m sorry, Jose. A lot of people, right? And these folks have gone into a 48-hour course, or four-day course, that promises it will develop psychic powers in them by the time they are done; that they will be shown how to enter an altered state of consciousness which will allow them to be able to tap into higher intelligence in the universe. They will be able to function not only psychically but clairvoyantly. They’ll be taught how to invite counselors or psychic guides into their minds to help with their problems; and they’ll be able to tap into the minds of other men, alive or dead; and that Jesus was the One who brought this message.

Jose, let me come to you again this week. In your book that you say, “We are all to go and help teach the Silva Method to everybody now that the kingdom of heaven is again within reach.” You are appealing to the churches, you are appealing to all people, to the colleges. You want the grade school children to have this as well. You say, “We want to have the Silva Method taught to everybody and told that the kingdom of heaven is again within reach to heal the sick, to cleanse the lepers, to cure leukemia and cancer patients, to raise the dead and cast out devils.” Now, that’s quite a claim. I mean, just listening to it read again here, how many of your six million students have been able to do that: to raise the dead, cure leukemia or cancer and cast out devils?

Silva: John, first of all, I would answer one thing Dave said.

Ankerberg: Okay, go ahead.

Silva: Last week he said something like, “doing away with everything from the Scriptures.” I didn’t say that. I’m saying we need to interpret and draw from the Scriptures every bit of information we can use to solve problems, not just words for the sake of using words and repeating them. I’m saying, then, Christians are not Christians because they talk about Christ; they are Christians because they do what Christ did, especially when He said, “He who believes in me and the works that I do, he also shall do.” [John 14:12] Believe that. So when He says now you go preach the message that the kingdom of heaven is now at hand, what for? To solve problems, to heal the sick, cast out devils, cleanse the lepers and so on, to correct all kinds of problems. We think we’ve found something similar to what He called the keys that He gave to Peter. [Matt. 16:19] Why doesn’t the Church talk to us about the keys? What are the keys? Is there a message for something? And why give them to Peter? They never talk about Peter, they talk about Paul all the time. Paul didn’t get the keys, it was Peter who got the keys. Why not talk about it, you know? What happened to the formula that He brought to give us?

Ankerberg: Alright, I appreciate that. John, would you like to comment?

Weldon: Well, in the context, Jesus was talking to Peter about his confession of Himself as Messiah. And He said, “Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.” [Matt. 16:17] He said, “Upon this rock, I will build my church,” [Matt. 16:18] not Peter, per se, but Peter’s confession. That’s how the church is built: the confession of Jesus Christ as Messiah and Lord. That is what a true Christian is, someone who accepts Christ’s lordship in their own life. And then He goes on, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom.” [Matt. 16:19] What a key does is that it opens the door. Anybody who is a Christian has the means of opening the door to the kingdom of heaven by….

Silva: “That is within you.” [Luke 17:21]

Weldon: …by sharing with them what it means to come into the kingdom of heaven: by being born again; by coming into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And so I think that the context determines that we’re talking about how we enter that kingdom of heaven. And the key is through faith in Jesus Christ.

Ankerberg: Let me bring up something from scholarship here that has come up in the other programs, and I forgot to throw it in. This is just what the scholars say. “Concerning the verse, ‘The kingdom of God is within you,’ is it supposed to be ‘within,’ or is it supposed to be ‘in your midst’?” And there are different translations, okay? If Christ had meant to say that the kingdom of God was inside each Pharisee, He would have used the Greek word eso. But that actually, literally would have meant “inside.” The word that is used in all of the texts is the word entos which means “in your midst.” The New American Standard revised that, their committee, and also the New Scofield, the Revised Standard Version. These all have revised that so that it reads, “The kingdom of God is in your midst.” So, on a straight scholarship view here, there’s a Greek word for if Jesus was really teaching the kingdom of God is “within” you. He didn’t use that word. He used the word that said that the kingdom of God was “in their midst.” Which makes sense also in the context that He’s talking to the Pharisees who had rejected Christ and later killed Him, and He said that they were of their father, the devil. So, both ways, in the language as well as the context, it would seem not to mean “inside you.” I just want to throw that in. I forgot to put it in a couple of programs ago. Jose, go ahead.

Silva: Well, Matthew says it very plainly, and Matthew was around; not the guys who came later to try to figure out what he thought He said.

Ankerberg: I’m glad you brought that up, too, because William F. Albright, before he died, at Johns Hopkins University, said that every book of the New Testament was written by a baptized Jew between 45 and 75 AD. So legend couldn’t creep in. I’m glad you brought that up. Go ahead.

Silva: So when he says, “Seek the kingdom of heaven that is within you and function within God’s righteousness,” to me it means, “Do not destroy God’s creation. Help God with creation, and everything else or natural law would back you up and everything else would be added unto you. What you ask for you shall receive.” And so forth. So, the Church is not teaching people to go to their inner kingdom. To correct any kind of problem here is seek the kingdom of heaven first. He is saying, “Later.”

Ankerberg: Let me just find out exactly, though, what Jose is saying here. You are saying that Jesus said that we are to go into this alpha state, into this kingdom within us, and when we’re there, in this altered state of consciousness, with our guides, we’ll have psychic powers. And with those psychic powers all of these new powers that we haven’t had for all these years except for a small few—10% of the population—that what Jesus really wanted us to do was to correct the human situation by our doing this, by looking inside, finding that reservoir of psychic power there and correcting all the ills.

Silva: Information. Getting information to do it with.

Ankerberg: Okay. You’ve also said that we are to create it just like the Creator. In other words, we are to create even animate and inanimate matter. We can move it around just like God does in the universe; we do here on this earth’s plane.

Silva: Yes.

Ankerberg: I get the idea that you’re saying we’re to do it if it is to get done. You saying, “Jesus is not coming back, so we’ve got to do it. But He gave us the keys, He gave us the message. Look inside, find this power, you’ve got the power and you can make earth ‘paradise earth.’”

Silva: You’ve got it right. You’ve got it right.

Ankerberg: I’ve got it right. David, do you want to comment? Or John?

Weldon: Yeah, I would like to comment on that. I think that Jesus Christ is coming back again, number one. He said in Matthew 24 that He would, and in many other places in Scripture. It’s very clear that Christ will return personally.

And I think also that, again, if everybody had psychic powers, we’d have to that degree much more problems in the world. Because I think if power corrupts, supernatural power is going to corrupt that much more. I think that the issue here is not are we going to have to develop more psychic powers, or whatever, in order to solve the world’s problems. I don’t think that the world’s problems are going to be solved until God Himself returns. That does not absolve us of responsibility for godly or righteous living.

But the issue is, when we seek God’s kingdom first and His righteousness, everything else is added unto us. Seeking God’s righteousness,… justification is a theological term, and it means an imputation, an imparting of God’s righteousness to the believer. To seek God’s righteousness is to enter into a relationship, a right relationship with God, through Jesus Christ, whereby your sins are forgiven and the righteousness of Christ is credited to your account. When Jesus said, “Seek ye first God’s kingdom and His righteousness,” [Matt. 6:33] that is what He was talking about. He wasn’t talking about going into an inner psychic kingdom and developing psychic powers, or contacting spirit guides. He was talking about a right relationship with Himself whereby our sins could be forgiven and His righteousness is imputed to us.

Ankerberg: Alright, let’s get down to something nitty-gritty, because, Dave, we were talking, and you told me you had had conversation with some of the folks that have come out of Silva Mind Control concerning this fact of the changed life. And then you can fill us in on that.

Hunt: Well, I was speaking with someone this morning who mentioned that it seemed beautiful for a time; he did seem to solve some problems. But he began to see that he hadn’t changed his heart, that he just imposed a veneer on top of him that really hadn’t changed anything basic. But one of the things that bothered him the most, which somehow we haven’t quite gotten down to answering, and that is he was concerned about the source of this power. He said there was power, but when he began to read, for example, that Jesus says, “Many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name and in your name we cast out devils, in your name we did miracles,’ and Jesus said, “I will say, ‘I never knew you.’” [Matt. 7:22-23] Those are solemn words from the One who said, “I know my sheep and am known of mine.” [John 10:14] They were never His sheep! And you can’t just say, “Well, we’re going to do the works that Jesus did.” For example, another thing that bothered this young man was, he read in the Old Testament how when Moses and Aaron came to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel and they cast down their rod and it turned into a serpent, the magicians cast down their rod and it turned into a serpent. [Ex. 7:10-11] They seemingly could duplicate the miracles up to a certain point. But it was from an evil power, not from God. So he began to be concerned about the source of this power.

Ankerberg: George or Jose?

DeSau: You want me to resolve it in 30 seconds, John? I’ve been waiting, yes, for that kind of a resolution. I’m a little bemused. I’m still back at the “guilt and sin” statement, I think, as to what’s going on. I’m a bit concerned of the strong orientation toward the “psychic entities” statement. We haven’t really touched on the fact that the basic course material starts out with some very elementary and very powerful statements in terms of self control, relaxation, internal kinds of controls. Habit control. And the idea of exercises will teach individuals to control themselves so that we’re really not in a position to say that the invasion of “entities and demons” is more likely to happen with Silva graduates than with not. My point would be that I think they have a world that’s rather well filled with what would be described, I suppose, as demonic possession, of non-Silva graduates. I would certainly say that I have never seen a Silva graduate turn to pure light. I would also say that I have never seen anyone else turn to pure light. But the idea of an individual who is a graduate saying that he is troubled by the fact that he hasn’t got enough control might be a statement that he really isn’t practicing what is going on.

Ankerberg: Okay. David?

Hunt: Well, he didn’t say that he had lost control. He seemed to be in control, but he was concerned about the source of this power that was doing tremendous things. But he recognized there was both an evil source and a good source.

Ankerberg: Alright. There is a quote, George, that Jose Silva is using in his book. Let me give it to you and you can comment on it, okay?

DeSau: Alright.

Ankerberg: “Most people seek out Mind Control as a way to relax, to end insomnia, to find relief from headaches, or to learn to do things that cost great efforts of will such as stopping smoking, losing weight, improving memory, studying more effectively. This is what most of them come for.” Then he says, “But they learn much, much more. Once you become acquainted with the alpha dimension, and you find a complete set of sensing faculties, once you become acquainted with these sensing faculties and learn to use them, you will be using more of your mind in a special manner. You will actually operate psychically whenever you want to tap into the higher intelligence.” Now, those are quite a mouthful. Those are really solid claims. We’re asking for the fact of when you say that to students and they seem to be experiencing powers, they seem to be experiencing things in their life, do all of those things turn out right?

DeSau: All of what things, John? I was so engrossed in your emphasis that I….

Ankerberg: Do any of those students not have any problems?

DeSau: Certainly people have problems after they take Mind Control.

Ankerberg: What kind of problems?

DeSau: The kind of problems they had, maybe the very ones that they had before they took Mind Control until they use the techniques to start clearing it. It’s like any kind of a situation. If you don’t use the techniques, or the information or the knowledge that you have, then you’re going to continue in those problems. I daresay that the idea of using one’s own mind, the internal controls, to correct and to straighten out problems has been a very powerful one. It’s the individuals who do not have internal controls who are in real difficulty, as I perceive it.

Ankerberg: David, Jose says, “If at your meditative level you try to tune in to some kind of intelligence that will assist in an evil design [if you try to get them to do evil, okay; a little “black magic” or “white magic] it will be as fruitless as trying to tune a radio to a station that does not exist.” And he says, “Thousands of people have smiled indulgently as I spoke of the utter impossibility of doing harm in alpha until they learned it for themselves.” What do you think about that statement?

Hunt: Well, again, let me refer to another former teacher who claims—now, Jose can maybe refute this, if it’s not true—but he says that Jose conducted a special session for his instructors in Laredo, Texas, because some of them were using mind control to seduce women, with money and for sexual purposes and so forth, and they were told not to do this. Now, I give Jose credit for being against it; but it seems to me, from what he said, they were, in fact, using these techniques for a wrong purpose. And it’s also my understanding that in the advanced course, you are taught to confuse a person’s mind. Perhaps you would just ask for a cup of coffee and then you ask for salt and they think you ought to be asking for cream or sugar, and in that momentary space where they are a little bit confused, then you can implant a thought, such as “buy my product” or something. It seems to me that these techniques are designed to impose ourselves upon others.

Ankerberg: Okay. Jose, feel free to speak to that.

Silva: John, he’s talking about some of these instructors, young kids, you know, young people, handsome instructors, that take advantage of the class attendants, nice looking girls, and date them and so forth. This is the only area. They are not using this dimension to be able to contact and do whatever they please, you know. In other words, you cannot function at a spiritual dimension negatively. Now, when you get to the center of the brain frequency spectrum—this is where the connection to the right brain hemisphere is—and use both of them, you are spiritually inclined. You are more in God’s dimension, in the Holy Ghost dimension. I mean, you’re not tempted to do harm to anybody.

Ankerberg: But you have to be in that dimension, otherwise those things happen.

Silva: No. Beta, meaning you use the left brain hemisphere, is where all these horrible things are happening.

Ankerberg: Yeah, but I’m saying that you, when you come out of it, you have to stay in that constant state of altered consciousness or the possibility of seducing women in the class happens.

Silva: You are not going to be able to do it. Here’s what I’m saying; because if you have this kind of thought, you will be ejected out from the dimension automatically. God knows what He’s doing. And along with this, they seem to be afraid of more psychic power. I’m saying that if I use this power to solve problems, on the right track, if I do it the way Jesus said, “now the kingdom of heaven is now at hand—within reach for everybody—now you go teach a message,” preach His Word, His kingdom, keys, whatever, to be able to solve all kinds of problems. But you need to function at the inner kingdom to be able to solve those problems, meaning to be able to get information that you can use to solve problems.

Ankerberg: Yeah. John, go ahead. Let John comment and then I’ll jump in here.

Silva: One more point here.

Ankerberg: Okay.

Silva: He says that the more power you have, the more evil it is. I say if I’m solving problems, the more power I have to solve problems, the better it is.

Weldon: I think again we’re dealing with more than just the human mind here. I think studies by parapsychologists have not documented the fact of a latent psychic capacity in humanity in general. I think the fact that the occult world and the occult literature, whenever you have genuine psychic abilities done, they are always associated with spiritistic power. And I think biblically and theologically in Acts 16 the slave girl with the spirit of divination, when the spirit was removed, her powers were removed, and that biblically, power from God is something that is given; it is not something that is innate. So I think that we’re dealing with more than the human mind here. And I think when you get into the psychic realm, you are in a realm of evil, potentially by definition, and that that evil acts strategically and personally.

Let me give you an illustration. I have a friend whose best friend in high school got together and decided to do a mock séance. They didn’t believe in it, it was just for fun. This friend of mine, his best friend ended up tormented by spirits for two years. They encountered something very real. Whether or not you believe in the reality of the supernatural, spiritual world is irrelevant. They can see a go-ahead, a green light, a signal to go ahead and interact in the human realm if that opportunity is given to them.

And I think the idea of inviting psychic advisors whom you know nothing about, that parallel spiritism to a great degree, is irresponsible. I think it is harming a great number of people, and I think with six million people who would have been through Silva Mind Control, with all the other guru groups and the occult revival in our country, I think it’s something that people need to be concerned about, and certainly to be warned against.

Hunt: John, beyond this, even, I am concerned about something else that we don’t seem to be able to settle here, and we probably won’t settle a lot of things. George is bemused by my talk of guilt. I’m bemused by the idea—I’m not bemused, I’m horrified—by the idea that if I’ve committed murder, all I have to do is go into my alpha level to get rid of my guilt. David said when he committed adultery and murder, “Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.” [Psa. 51:4] And we are not dealing with what God thinks about this and His demands of His holy justice and how that has to be satisfied. And you’re not going to do that through some mental state.

Ankerberg: Jose?

Silva: John, what’s wrong about a medical person, physician, surgeon, doing a psychic reading on a patient that he’s is going to do an exploratory to be prepared for what he’s going to find and be ready to take care of it? This is the kind of psychic power we’re talking about. He seems to turn around the other way……

Ankerberg: Okay. David, what could be wrong with the fact of having a psychic surgery actually done on you and it works? What’s wrong with that?

Hunt: Well, Jose says “We get a lot of good results.” But there’s one result that overshadows all of the apparent good of healing bodies and so forth, and in my opinion that’s going to damn souls, because they have rejected the only solution. And all of this good that seems to be done is leading them away from the sacrifice of Christ for their sins upon the cross. They don’t need that anymore; all you need is alpha in your right brain.

Ankerberg: Okay. We’re out of time this week. We’re coming back for questions and answers and I hope that you will stick with us. Please join us next week.

Read Part 5