Chapter 7: I Believe

“Believing is Seeing” - unknown

My aim in this chapter isn’t to rid you of your beliefs or even to help change them. There are countless books dedicated to just this end- my intention is only to make you aware of the immense power your beliefs hold over you.There is a huge difference between what you believe and what you know. Knowledge is power they say and my hope is that this knowledge will help you to recognise your beliefs and the fundamental role they play in creating the life you see and experience.

Giving you the confidence and platform on which to build a reality you prefer, not one that is seemingly thrust upon you by forces out-with your control. Let’s be very clear here what you believe to be true is one of the most influential factors in determining the reality you experience while here on the physical plane!

“The outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs.” - James Allen

Beliefs and their bedfellow’s of expectations could be better described as the limits we place on ourselves while here in this physical reality. What we allow ourselves to believe has an enormous bearing on the reality we perceive and experience.

Think of them as training wheels similar to what a child would use when first learning to ride a bicycle. They help form the parameters of our reality, self imposed boundaries that act as stabilisers that keep us on track. 

Now if you look around you and are satisfied with what you see- if you are in good health, financially sound, and enjoy positive relationships with the people in your life then you can be sure that your beliefs are beneficial. If however the opposite is true and you feel impotent and powerless. If your life is full of struggles and strife then again you can be sure that it is your beliefs that are at the root of your problems.

What you believe is the prime deciding factor in the reality you perceive and experience. And without conscious directorship our beliefs may no longer serve us and can quickly become the blinkers and chains that blind us and bind us.

However,  In my opinion the beliefs we hold about reality are a necessary part of our evolution. At this stage in the evolution of your consciousness they serve a purpose fulfil a need within us. One day in the future we will all have the quality of consciousness required to live Without these self-imposed limits and boundaries but for now we need them like a small child needs the security of the small picket fence around the sandpit and the constant reassurance of its mother, for in truth most of us live the part of our lives in ignorance, fear and confusion.

And we do as humans always do when feeling fearful or threatened we build barriers and create separations to ‘protect’ ourselves from non-existent threats that we imagine exist. We imagine lack in a world of plenty, hate in a world of love, and we set our stall accordingly.

"The most important question we can ask ourselves is whether we live in a friendly or hostile universe” — Albert Einstein

Again knowledge is power and by recognising the part that both your conscious and  subconscious beliefs play in your creating your reality you can then begin to develop a set of beliefs that serve you not bind you.

We all have beliefs and the amount of therapy, a positive thinking it's going to change that any time soon, but we do have the ability to choose what we believe and more pragmatic approach is simply to adopt a new set of beliefs based on your own experiences and knowledge, and not on what other people believed to be true.

What you believe controls everything that you experience, your health, wealth, relationships and success, are all shaped by what you believe to be true.

“You are given the gifts of the gods,

you create your reality

according to you beliefs.

Yours is the creative energy

that makes your world.

There are no limitations to the self

except those you believe in,”— The Seth Material, Jane Roberts

You create your own reality using your thoughts, feelings, emotions, expectations and intentions but the prime deciding factor is your beliefs!

Similar to a lens on a camera every thought you have, every feeling, through the lens of your own personal belief system.

“What is wanted is not the will to believe, but the will to find out, which is the exact

opposite.” - Bertrand Russell

Those things you hold to be true consciously and unconsciously directly influence the choices you make and forge the reality you perceive and experience. What you believe dictates what you think and what you think dictates what you feel. What you feel dictates the vibration you send out into the universe.

“The universe is not punishing you or blessing you. The universe is simply responding to the vibrational attitude that you are emitting.” ~ Abraham - Hicks 

If we ever desire to expand our awareness and grow then first we need examine the beliefs we hold, we need to test our limits and expand the boundaries we imagine surround us. Doing so will open you up to new ideas and possibilities wilder than your wildest dreams. As each day brings new insights into my life and my awareness expands accordingly, I am

slowly beginning to develop a core set of ‘truths’ that are more in line with my true self and the true nature of reality.

So What is a Belief?

Simply put any belief you hold is an idea about reality that you believe to be true. And this is crucial, not necessarily what is true! Many people think that what they believe and what they know are the same thing. But there is a crucial difference between the two.

Beliefs are formulated by your intellect through logical thinking. They are a result of many different influences, your parents, up-bringing, your teachers, societal norms, your friends and peers, your environment, your social, economic, political and religious circumstances, your life experiences. All these factors and many more combine and merge into a belief system that is unique to you alone.

Add into this mix a large dose fear, apathy, and ignorance and a the result is a skewed view of reality so far removed from the truth that it is almost laughable. Beliefs will only get you so far at some point you will have to move from belief into knowing.

“Religion is belief in someone else's experience. Spirituality is having your own experience. Atheism is no experience only measurement.” - Deepak Chopra

True wisdom, true awareness, comes not from logical deduction by the intellect or the  words of others.

Majority of us live our lives based on the belief systems of others. Take one of your beliefs anyone will do and examine it carefully. Is based on someone else's belief or on your own direct experience? Do you know it's true?  

Knowing can only come from direct personal experience. Other peoples experiences and knowledge can point you in the right direction, signpost on the road if you will, but the only thing that any of us can truly know is those truths that we have discovered by ourselves through direct personal experience and we feel at the very deepest level of her being. 

By all means keep your beliefs but do they serve you and freedom or do build a prison around you.

"The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts" - Marcus Aurelius

Belief systems are a major force in determining the reality you perceive but the problem with the majority of beliefs systems we hold here on earth today is that they are almost certainly wrong!

Throughout human history belief systems have come and gone.

Belief systems that satisfied the need of the times - from sun worshiping to omniscient all powerful deities, human societies throughout history have attempted to understand and explain the mystery of our origins and the universe around us each one believing at the time that what they believed was the indisputable truth. Trying to solve the mysteries of life from inside the sand pit.

"Your belief systems limit your reality to a sub-set of the solution space that does not contain the answer." — Dr Tom Campbell

Recognising what beliefs you hold, questioning and examining them, keeping an open mind to new ideas and concepts, and living gracefully with the knowledge that some things are beyond our capability to prove or disprove at this level of our consciousness is crucial if we ever hope to discover the truth behind the veil.

I Believe that I create my reality

with my thoughts, feelings, emotions,

expectations, imagination, and intention.