SPIRITUAL BELIEF CHECKUP
There is nothing more central to our happiness than our beliefs. If we
are to have a life that works we must have beliefs that work.
As Ernest Holmes points out in "The Science of Mind",
Jesus summed up his whole philosophy as "It
will be done to you as you believe". This understanding is perhaps the
central point of all spiritual teachings. The following quotations are
just a few illustrative examples:
Your outer world of form and experience is a reflection of your inner
world of thoughts and feelings. As above, so below. As within, so without.
That is the law.
- John Randolph Price, The Abundance Book
What a man has and what he is, is the result of the subjective state
of his thought.... Every idea is bound to produce an effect exactly
like its cause.
- Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind
It is impossible that anything would come to me unbidden by myself.
Even in this world it is I that rules my destiny. What happens is what
I desire. What does not occur is what I do not want to happen.
- A Course in Miracles
We can take possession of our affairs only as we consciously realize
that they are the effect of our own consciousness.
- Joel Goldsmith, Infinite Way
Spiritual Belief Check-Up
Let's take a look at three of the most important spiritual beliefs we
have:
- Are we victims or choosers of our own experience?
- Is God a judgmental and punishing God or unconditionally loving and
all-forgiving?
- Am I an imperfect creation or a perfect child of God?
To benefit from examining these beliefs, we will inquire into the following
questions and statements to get at our subconscious thoughts and deeper
feelings. Then we will briefly examine what is the most positive and
useful belief to hold and what possible challenge we would have to face
if we held this belief. Our third step will be to explore some action
step solutions. In order to take your Belief Check-Up, answer the following
questions by checking the box when your answer is yes.
(If you check the
boxes on the left you have chosen a victim perspective)
What is the benefit in believing that we are the choosers of our own
experience? A victim cannot change anything. Victims are stuck - powerless!
Thus if we believed we were choosing something, even without knowing
we were doing so, then we could choose something different, something
we consciously wanted. We become empowered. Additionally, as Donald
Epstein, the founder of Network Spinal Analysis so beautifully put
it, "We cannot enter into a sacred space until we give up all rights
and priveleges of victimhood." The sacred, or God Space, is that connection
from which our power and good comes. Blame, refusing to forgive, choosing
to be a victim holds us in our ego mind which is experienced as a
separate, painful and powerless state.
What challenge is there in believing that we are the subconscious
or conscious choosers of our experience? Well, if we can't blame others
or God, then we have to look at ourselves. It certainly can be a frightening
thought to think that "I choose the disease or situation for myself."
However, once we get through that stuck, fearful moment, then we can
choose to undo what we have done. We can ask, "What possible benefit
did I think, subconsciously or consciously, that disease or situation
would give me? Well, now I don't want that any more, and being a chooser,
I'd rather choose health and joy."
To take action, we can begin by allowing our subconscious victim thoughts
to become conscious. Catch yourself feeling powerless and say to yourself,
"No, there is another way of looking at this that is more to my benefit."
Pre-Cognitive Re-Education treatment and other methods of clearing
the subconscious will be essential. Read books that encourage you
to see yourself as a chooser rather than a victim. Ernest Holmes,
A Course on Miracles and Joel Goldsmith are a wonderful place to start.
We must make this change a priority and work on it over time if we
are to root out all the layers of victim thought.
(Answers to the
left indicate a belief in a judgmental or punishing God)
What benefit is there in believing in an unconditionally loving God?
If we can accept that God loves us without reservation, then we can
let that love in rather than pushing it away. In letting that love
into out experience we can extend it to others. There is no joy or
happiness without the ability to receive and extend love.
What challenge is there in believing in an unconditionally loving
God? This belief works against the ego's intention of remaining separate
from God, disempowering the ego from replacing God hierarchilly in
our lives. Thus, the ego will find ennumerable reasons and justifications
not to trust love or God.
Most of us harbor societal, religious and parental visions of God
as judgemental and angry. For example, here is a quote from the Bible,
Book of Nahum: "...who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure
the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire...." We can
choose to move beyond these old egoic projections. Jesus teaches us
to embrace God as a loving parent. Explore this vision, even if your
physical parents were the opposite. Imagine the most perfect parent
who loves and cares for you totally. Work with the idea that God is
your only real parent and that this parent wants to give you everything
you need for your happiness but that you, yourself, are blocking this
at the subconscious level. Examine your feelings of resistance. Do
you feel unworthy, or guilty, or angry, or resentful? If so, choose
to let these feelings go.
(Answers to the left indicate an attachment to the ego state)
What is the benefit in believing that we are the perfect children
of God? If we choose to believe that the ego is only an illusory,
dreamlike state, we have only to cast off this dream-like ego state
to find our true perfection. It is easier to cast off a mental aberration
than to invent our own perfection. Can the ego create perfection?
If we choose to believe that we are the perfect children of God then
it is God who creates love, wisdom, power, health and we have only
to stop interfering to let it flow through us!
What challenge is there in believing that we are the perfect children
of God? We would have to accept that we did not create ourselves and
that the ego is perfection's only impediment. The ego will fight us
to the death to prevent our experience of perfection.
You can choose to see your demonstrations of God qualities (such as
kindness, generosity, strength, knowingness, love, etc.) as the inherent,
God-perfected you. The expressions of ego (pettiness, judgement, cruelty,
resentment, anger, lack, hatred etc.) are blockages in the expression
of your inherent God-perfected self. All you have to do is allow the
blockages to be cleared out for the God qualities to shine. Subconscious
clearing techniques, therapy, loving, generosity without expectation,
self-observation as well as psycho-physical techniques (Reiki, Network
Spinal Analysis, flower essences, etc.) can be helpful in the release
of these blockages.
Ultimately, if our beliefs are not in alignment with our aspiration,
then we are bound to live in conflict and failure. We can begin by
choosing the conscious beliefs that serve us best and proceed to release
our subconscious limiting beliefs. Perhaps Ashley Brilliant had this
in mind when he wrote: "Don't believe everything you think." Now is
the time to choose our beliefs according to how they serve us rather
than automatically and without conscious thought, thinking in the
same way we have always thought in the past.
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