Beliefs, The Lies That Bind Us



 

Many have taught you their truth; now learn how to let go of

their truth so that you can live from your own.

 

 

Since birth, we have borrowed beliefs from others, mostly authority figures.  Once we accept a belief as possible, our mind searches for proof that the belief is true.  Invariably our mind finds evidence for the belief in the world, and we consider the manifestation to be proof that the belief is real and unchangeable.  Now the belief has been upgraded from hypothesis to truth.  And truth cannot be changed.  But, truth and beliefs are very different.  Beliefs can be changed or eliminated once we recognize that they are just beliefs, not the truth.  In fact, we do it all the time.

People are insane about their beliefs these days.  They insist that their point of view is right and true.  Their point of view is right–it is right for them and only them.  It is fine to express your beliefs; that is what life is about.  But when people get upset with you if you won’t think like them, they have gone too far.  Ignore them; and honor your point of view. One brilliant writer once said, “If two people think exactly the same thing, one of them isn’t necessary.”

Thousands of years ago, everyone had pure discrimination and were clear on the difference between the truth and beliefs.  People who wanted power slowly polluted people’s natural navigation systems.  And humans lost their way.  Our minds started leading us toward problems, pain, and suffering instead of joy, freedom, and love.  But once you regain your natural discrimination, you easily let go of the beliefs that have kept you from living your best life.

Let me give you an example of how our minds get polluted with borrowed beliefs.  Imagine that I say to you, “You are an elephant.”  You know that my statement is false.  You don’t doubt that I’m lying.  You don’t gain several thousand pounds and grow a trunk and tail.  You don’t give it another thought.  You might think I’m crazy, or we might have a good laugh.  The key is that you know I’m lying.

Now imagine that I say, “You are ugly.”  Immediately, your mind searches to see if I am correct.  You don’t quickly and easily dismiss the comment, especially if I am an authority figure in some aspect of your life.  You might compare your looks to another that is considered beautiful by society.  You might remember your worst feature and think I’m correct.  Instead of laughing at my comment, you are likely to accept it.  You might try to argue with me to convince me to admit I’m wrong.  But if I don’t take back the comment and admit my error, you will feel stuck with it.  And that is because you think my opinion matters; therefore, my comment is now part of your mind.

Our minds were trained from our youth to accept judgment and criticism from authority figures as the truth.  It helped to keep order in churches, homes, and schools.  After awhile, we accept the words of authority so quickly that we believe the lies of others before we can discriminate clearly.  Once the lie is accepted as true, our mind will now do its job and look for evidence to demonstrate that what we have just accepted as true is, in fact, true.  Now that the thought is in our mind, it gathers power like a train without brakes rolling down a mountain.  We validate the idea every time we see our reflection.  We might feel that others also notice our flaws.  Maybe we try very hard to hide the flaw that never was.  It never occurs to us that the person who caused this train wreck might be wrong.  We forget that people who feel ugly see ugliness everywhere.  They don’t do it on purpose; they had the same training.  Beliefs are contagious and cause needless suffering.  In fact, any area of your life that is not working or causing you problems or pain is the result of a belief that you can delete from your mind.

Once a belief is embedded in our mind, we are at war with it.  We desperately want it to leave, but it becomes like a tar baby.  The more we try to drop it, the stronger it seems to stick to our minds.  Sometimes, we find another belief that is more empowering; and we replace one belief with another.  Sometimes through use of our will, we overpower the belief with affirmations or visualization.  The belief seems to disappear.  But often we still see it in the world around us; we feel we have to keep it away with more mental techniques.  For the really obsessive thoughts, or thoughts that are accepted by the masses, we may feel impotent to free our mind.  We often feel that we just have to accept the belief as reality.

The word lie is embedded within the word belief, hinting at its purpose.  That doesn’t make beliefs bad or wrong.  If I want to sell my car, and you want to buy it, we both hold a belief that supports the transaction.  However, once the sale is complete, our beliefs are dropped.  We don’t keep repeating the exchange forever.  Beliefs are to be used and then discarded.  That keeps our mind clean and available for creating anew.  The beliefs are easy for each person to drop because we both know the transaction is complete.  We no longer want to buy or sell a car.

We get into trouble when we accept a belief as a permanent truth.  The beliefs that cause the most trouble are those that have judgment attached, i.e., good and bad, right and wrong, pretty and ugly, etc.  Someone declares us lazy, stupid, or diseased.  We cement that lie within our mind and prove him or her right again and again.  A person gives us a religious or cultural belief that just doesn’t support our life, and we feel powerless to eliminate it from our mind.  Often in this situation, we will expend enormous effort to get the person who gave us the belief to change their mind.  But all we have to do is drop the belief from our own mind by recognizing that it is just a belief, not the truth.  Once our mind is completely free of the belief, others won’t reflect it for us or pull us down with it ever again.

Dropping beliefs requires discrimination.  We must know what is true and what is false.  The truth always feels good; it is free of emotional agitation.  Truth is born from love, and it is win-win for everyone.  Anything that is not true is false.  And everything false is a belief–a lie that can be easily dropped and forgotten.  You don’t need help from another (unless you want help); and you don’t need a million dollar bank balance or a MENSA IQ.  You need to have the willingness to trust your emotions, the ability to be honest with yourself, and the desire to be your authentic Self.

All beliefs are lies.  Some have a temporary purpose and are useful.  Others just disempower us and keep us in a very small box.  Lies only have the power that we give them.  We give them power, and we can take that power away just as easily.  When we recognize that they are false and completely powerless ideas, they disappear and our reality changes.  There is nothing that cannot be changed once we understand and apply the anatomy of beliefs.

If you have beliefs that you would like to let go, see my free e-book and on-line class at www.nolabelsnolies.com; or if you would like private instruction or support contact me for a private session.

Cathy

Cathy Eck is a true pioneer always pushing the boundaries of thought and beliefs. Cathy is courageous about exposing the status quo. While her ideas might not be popular, they are effective, practical, and true. They create unity where division once existed. They create love where hate had reigned. They create joy where pain and sorrow were once normal. They are ideas worth considering and hopefully embracing.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Paul Roche

    I just love this post! It is encouraging us to identify with what is real and to really trust our ‘gut’ instinct. In adopting beliefs we automatically try to align our minds with that belief and limit ourselves. Well done to the author of this post!!!

    1. gatewaytogold

      Thank you Paul. You totally got that article. Kudos to you, many people don’t get it. It is true that the beauty or truth is in the eye of the beholder. Thanks for being a wonderful beholder. Cathy

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