Breaking Down Beliefs
One of the things I’ve been focusing on in the last year is examining and breaking down the beliefs I held. A belief is simply an idea that we are clinging to with fervor. Just because you believe something doesn’t mean it’s true. We often believe things that we later discover are untrue, but even worse we often hold to beliefs even when the truth is staring us down!
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether or not a belief has any validity to it, as it is still just an idea we are clinging to, and clinging always gets us into trouble. Strongly held ideas can be a barrier to seeing and understanding information we may have missed before, and it can cut us off from seeing what’s really there. And frankly, many beliefs are pointless.
It’s interesting to see how people react when I suggest that they re-examine and drop their beliefs. That attachment becomes very apparent in the look of indignation or shock. But examine them we should. I have discovered that many of the beliefs I had came into my mind long ago, and were really the beliefs of others, such as opinions about certain groups of people or religious sects. Some of my beliefs turned out not to be beliefs at all but simply concepts I accepted. For instance, I don’t believe the Sun is 93 million miles away–I accept that. If some scientist comes along and says it’s really 96 million miles away, so be it. I really could care less. I don’t believe M-Theory is absolutely correct, but I hope it is because for me it explains a lot. But if it gets proven wrong, I’ll drop it without angst.
Which also brings me to the beliefs, or rather the topic of the belief, that I’m just not interested in any longer, such as the existence of God, what happens after we die, and if we have past lives. I really don’t care about the truth of any of those things. I’m far more concerned with reality in this lifetime, especially in this moment, and I’ll consider death again once I’m dead, if I can. If not, it doesn’t matter at all anyway!
A movie everyone should watch, especially those of us in the USA, is Zeitgeist. It will challenge your beliefs in a big way, especially if you’re Christian, or patriotic in any way, and it will challenge any views you may have on the history of our American wars. It’s a must see! From there, start dissecting the rest of your beliefs.
I am trying to be mindful of my other ideas, so that they never become a belief. I am looking at the attachments I have to my ideas and if it’s really worth the clinging that will just lead to separating me from others and giving birth to suffering to protect those beliefs. That’s not to say all opinions go into the trash, but opinions and ideas, if held loosely, open the door to greater awareness in the long run. Is that last sentence a belief? No, I have discovered that it’s true from the bit of investigation that I’ve done so far, and if at any point it proves otherwise, I’ll change my mind, again.
The reason we can’t talk to each other about politics and religion is because of belief. Both of those topics are built upon belief, and attachment reins above all else in those areas, so when disagreement arises, tempers flare in reaction to clinging. If instead we dropped all belief about those topics and instead had loosely held ideas based on information, then we wouldn’t be troubled by details that may prove us incorrect, or by the ideas of others. And we do come across the rare person who is fluid about discussing either of those topics, and they are refreshing to talk with.
Beliefs can really screw us up when we have a solid belief about a person. That belief acts as a blindfold, so that you don’t even see when they act “out of character” from your idea of who they are. I’m examining the beliefs I’ve developed over the years about certain friends, and dismantling those beliefs as much as I can. The first step, of course, is to be mindful of the belief in the first place.
What are your beliefs? Can you tear them apart and give them up? If not, dig in deep, you’re bound to find some interesting stuff in there!
