"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Matt. 3:11)
"Water... represents material cleansing, and fire represents spiritual cleansing. When John the Baptist baptized with water, he washed away the sins of an external character. He did not enter into the subconsciousness. It takes something more powerful than water to purify the error conditions accumulated by the soul in its many incarnations. The presence of God through Christ is necessary to purify this part of man" (MBD/Water).
"The regeneration of the subconscious is not the work of the conscious, but of the superconscious mind [the Christ mind] acting in harmony with the conscious" (Keep a True Lent 91).
"You can't overcome the arrogance and the egotism and the greed and the selfishness, the jealousy and the anger, of the mortal man without the Holy Spirit. It can't be done" (Unpublished Fillmore Jan 27 1929 31).
"The superconscious mind lifts up, or regenerates, both the subconscious and the conscious, transforming them into the true image and likeness of God. The conscious mind must be faithful during this transformation. It must look ever to the superconscious for all direction and instruction. It can of itself do nothing with assurance, because the Spirit of wisdom rests in the superconscious" (Keep a True Lent 89).
"In his unregenerated state, man reflects his mind into his body. But when the baptism of fire, the descent of the Holy Spirit, takes place, there is a reunion of mind and body, and the thrill of divine life is again felt" (Talks on Truth 151).
"In its true essence it is the fire of Spirit, or the divine energy, which never ceases its life-giving, purifying glow; when its cleansing work is completed in man's mind and body there is no more error to be consumed, and itthen manifests in purified man as his eternal life" (MBD/Fire).
Holy Spirit baptism is a very real and intense process in the life of the mystic. It is the purification of the memories of the soul that have been accumulated through many incarnations. These are deeply suppressed memories that are not accessible to the conscious mind through currently known psychological techniques. This baptism may be evoked by the intensity of the desire to know God through prayer and meditation, and surrender of personal will. As the soul journeys inward surrendering all mental effort to do the healing work, the stilled energy of the mind creates a vacuum into which the "fire of the Holy Spirit" enters and consumes that which is not true to the nature of the Christ self.
