"What is it you REALLY believe?" asked a friend in her weekly email "On the Waterline."
She posted the question two days ago and I am still pondering the thought. What does it mean to believe? Does belief come from within oneself, or from others? Does belief exclude doubt or does it include the choice to believe despite doubt?
Then there is that question of "Really." For me, "really" places the responsibility for belief on my shoulders. But does "really" exclude the acceptance of belief received from others and accepted as true. Does "really" require that we start from scratch to determine what it is we believe.
Are any of our thoughts really out own? Think of it, from the time you are a child, others are telling you what is true, what is right. They even tell you who you are, or who you ought to be. But, do you know who you "really" are?
Truth is, I'm not sure who I really am but I'm trying to find out. And this partially "found" person can say right now, based on my own experience and on the experience gleaned from others and tested against their experience, that my one "really believe" belief is:
Life is gift. That all that happens within Life is gift. That gift includes that which we might label good and/or bad because both are part of the journey toward Self-discovery. Self-discovery is good. Self-discovery means openness to Life and Life is that divine creative force I call God.
What do you really believe?
My friend, Marcia Hyatt, sends me weekly questions like these. They are called "On the Waterline." If you are interested in receiving such questions just send an e-mail to mhyatt@boreal.org.
Beryl is the award-winning author ofThe Scent of God: A Memoir, published by Counterpoint NY in hardcover 2006 and in paperback in 2007. Her work has been published in regional and national media and in the anthologies Surviving Ophelia (Perseus Press NY 2001) and the New Writer’s Handbook, Volume 2 (Scarletta Press 2008). Besides blogging on Gather.com, Beryl writes a travel blog, Road Writer, and a Spirituality blog, Finding Time For God,
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Comments: 58
I'm a simple old dog trying to find his way as well.
The fundamental foundation is either with God or without God ... (Godly essence in everything pertaining to truth & wisdom in the universe of which we are sojourners); which makes everything else in Life flow in different streams.
When we believe we know it all ... we can be sure that we do not really know at all.
BE the change you want to see in the world ... today!
Thanks for putting this question on gather. Or thank your girlfriend. I've played with this question for years on top of years, and finally have come to believe we are all ONE. I do not believe we are bad, or that we can do bad. I guess it's all about circumstances and how we react or not react. For me, if I listen to my 'inner Self', maybe the one God gave me, I usually do the right thing. And if someone thinks it's not right and I do. Isn't that all we need to live with ourselves in peace?
If we can really look and listen to others we will find we are no different from them. That goes for those in prison because of some crime, or anyone else we say is bad. I try to put myself in their shoes, circumstances, and see if I would have done the same thing. Sometimes when I look back at my own life and the things I did, it's amazing I'm not dead yet.
Love is the all important word. It's the word that gets past all indifference. If you can give, or show another love, it will change their hearts. Harden not your hearts. Look at the crash on Hudson a few weeks ago. People came together 'for' each other. A showing of love. I believe in the human race, in the USA and other countries. I believe we are all ONE.
I guess my prayer would be to stop putting others down, especially news media. It's a disease that spreads like wild fire. I'm glad our new president is opening dialogue with other countries and not looking at them as 'bad' or evil doer's'.
I think one of the greatest books I've read is: As a Man Thinketh by James Allen written the ealy nineteen hundreds.
This question has been asked for years, I'm sure. I am not a Buddist, a Christian and do believe in all religions.
What then is real? You are either an aspect of God and thus one with All that is or you are separated from God. This world teaches the latter, and therein lies all the fear, hate and sorrow of the world. It asserts that (1) immortality (spirit) is housed within death (mortality) and that (2) eternity is contained within time - yet immortality denies death and eternity means that there is no time ... these are mutually exclusive and cannot co-exist.
You can only believe in the duality - in believing that both opposing states of being simultaneously exist - via dissociation ... by not bringing them together. Doing so immediately gives rise to confusion and a state of disconnectedness ... and these are common states of being in this world.
But rejoice! You are spirit, deathless and eternal, remaining forever exactly as God created you: you are your heart and your heart is innocent still, for in your heart the Heart of God is laid.
Ten stars from me, Beryl.
You are doing so well, with your hardcover, paperback and your essays in anthologies.....
Featured in the Triple Name Club.
I believe our experiences shape our life journey because we live this precious human existence in the body we inherited (dust to dust). So if we are open to our experiences, we learn to suspend disbelief - and belief - to find the truth of our existence - in this lifetime and beyond.
What do we believe? Is our belief true? Do our shared beliefs shape our shared illusion?
I believe that truth is beyond belief and speculation and exceeds our wildest dreams. That is my comfort.
(Sorry to be so wordy tonight. You pressed my "philosophy" button.) :)
Beryl: getting down to Basics, are we? With a writer's scalpel you are peeling back the layers. And what if the answer is: at the center, there is more onion? At the absolute center, of course, is nothingness. And everything.
I am pondering the same thing. Are our ideas mere words, or do words form our ideas? I would posit that the question defines literacy. Here is another thought: can the universe be explained rationally, or is rationale that which, in fact, is CREATED by the universe?
Thank you for the thought behind your writing.
(And you might be interested in Ann M's daily Gather post: Losing Your Religion. I would supply the link but this is an iPhone with no cut and paste and NO conversation, even one as yours, is worth memorizing a URL.)
You are asking a great question. It is something I have thought about. I ended up believing that one ought to write out his or her personal credo periodically, say every 5 years. And send it to no one. Do it just for yourself. That way you can be candid.
I find when I do it, I want to make two categories: What I believe and what I want to believe. Which raises a further question, given the difference between belief and knowledge. Namely, is there any difference between what you want to believe and what you actually believe? For instance, I believe in God. I want to believe God is good. Kindly disposed to human beings and other sentient creatures. I want to believe that I can establish a personal relationship with God. I want to believe that God is a person.
One problem is that I also believe God is creating. God is the creator. And creation is so big. Unimaginatively big. We humans have 10 fingers and 10 toes. Our numeric imaginations are not that limited, but when you start talking millions and billions, mega and giga, they start sliding in and out as just words. With no real comprehension. So we say the the sun is 93,000,000 miles away. And it's hard to imagine. What? How long, driving 70 MPH would it take to get to the sun? 70 mph is pretty fast. But it would take 150 years or so. More than a lifetime. And that with no potty breaks. Or eating or sleeping. Largely we can't relate. And our solar system is an utterly insignificant part of creation. If God made it all, God is huge. And I want to believe that God personally interacts with me.
One other point. You should see change. When you were a child, you thought as a child. Now as an adult you think as an adult. And if you are truly living, you keep changing. So you should observe and evolution of beliefs reviewing your written credos.
Cheers.
Jim
Rita B. Isn't change a splendid human option? I understand your hunger to know the beauty in this world while we can.
Magi. I wonder that so many seem to prefer the sense of the autonomous "I" when its conclusions are so unpalatable. I much prefer the All is One and One is All frame of reference. We live suspended. Waiting while in the now.
Natalie: You've been so gifted with insight.
Lisa: wise woman that mother of yours
Kathryn: Oh yes. Take time for those flowers dear friend. Life demands their fragrance.
Sterling: Truth is beyond belief. What a wonderful expression of the need to live suspended in openness.
Oh Bart: You've injected that spark of humor that makes discussions like this delicious. I shall have to ponder your question. And shall have to check out Ann M. post. Thanks for the suggestion.
James: What a great meal of questions you've given us to chomp on. Who can be bored with so much to ponder, observe, and experience.?
It is certain that the ego and God will never meet ... each denies the reality of the other, as do their respective frames of reference: total separation and indivisible unity. One offers the experience of hell, the other of heaven. As we choose, so do we receive.
There is, I believe, also a conflicting belief system that exists in some people who want very much to believe certain principles and to stay strong in their faith. But subconsciously they have very different beliefs from various experiences in their lives. For instance, I can set goals and have faith that God is working in and through me to help accomplish those goals. But if I have grown up in a home where I was told that I wasn't good enough or didn't have what it takes to make it in the world, I may not REALLY believe that I can accomplish those goals. It is a conflict between our conscious and subconscious beliefs. And where there is this conflict and not the awareness of the conflict, we tend to live our lives from the subconscious beliefs.
I hope that this rambling made some sense. A great question, Beryl. Please publish these posts on "Spirituality Explorers" and share them with the group.
I sometimes wonder if learning to do so is a key element to the purpose in each of our lives.
I hope ths isn't out of place, but I wrote 2 articles on the definition of Faith as a prelude to a commentary on Romans. They may or may not help, but they are available if you are interested. I agree that 'Faith' is often misunderstood.
Definition Faith 1
Def of Faith 2
I would add further that it is a gift to be given away. If you only hold on tight to the gifts you receive they lose their savor. But if you share them with others, they increase in value through the years.
Carla: You have stated the change in our beliefs as we grow older so well. Like you, I've shed similar beliefs as I've grown older. There are times when asked if I am still a practicing Catholic and I hesitate before answering because I am spiritually devout but not religiously devout. I remember one retreat director saying that if we still believe as we did when children, we haven't grown at all. Of course, in some respects a child's might be real growth because it would mean a peeling away of dogma and an adherence to ones experience of belief.
Thanks Bart for that link. I checked it out and see that it has generated a lot of discussion in a short period of time. I want to go back and get involved.
I hope you get back and share what your pondering generates.
Gisela, I have heard that program on a number of occasions and have been touched by the beliefs in our shared humanity spoken there. Your final question is a profound one. What is the purpose of our life?
Glome. Thanks for the links to your article. As soon as I finish responding here, I link up to them.
Don L. I love that quote of St. Augustine's. And found myself saying Yes. Yes. to your final sentences. Gifts are meant to be shared. To hoard oneself is to bury that talent Jesus spoke of.
Love
For me, the most important effort I can undertake is not an accumulation of what I believe (to be true), but what actually is true. I can see no other endeavor that is as important as being honest with ourselves.
"Does belief exclude doubt or does it include the choice to believe despite doubt?"
Again...the question is one of what is most likely to be valid or true. Despite doubts, a belief can be a truth...based upon a truth...or the most compelling argument for the validity of that truth. Doubt (skepticism) is the most valuable tool we can employ as we reevaluate our beliefs...in a never ending quest for truth....not what we believe, but what is actually true. This is the basis for science.
"We must always work to suppress our need to be absolutely certain and in total control and our tendency to seek the simple and effortless solution to a problem."
Alfred Mander (Logic for the Millions)
Believe , truth they are both concepts that open a large spectrum for human consciousness .I think every body willingly believes what they wish, to a certain extent.
(and to that i'll add that sometimes i'm simply dumbfounded to find out what some people believe in)
Myself i believe in art , music . There's a certain grounded perfection in Bach's cantatas that makes me believe in harmony and perfection.But that's just me , it most likely sounds ridiculous to many :)
While reaching our hands to the skies.
God is Love, Life and Being,
And these three words sum it all up."
Love and hugs - S.
Svetlana, your sentiments always inspire. Thank you.
I like very much what you had to say about Life as a gift, an invitation to self-discovery. This is much more in my way of thinking. I will always have beliefs, of course, just as I will always doubtless have unexamined prejudices, but I also know that if I am truly to individuate fully as a thinker, and creative artist, I have to update my beliefs about the world constantly, and challenge them the way scientists are continually questioning their own theories.
I take science as my paradigm for critical thinking, and I use the word belief to refer to my deepest values of the Good, the Wise and the True, almost in a Platonic sense.
a Mirror, wider than itself,
eyes floating within imaginations’
erotic, sentimental, curiously
framed reciprocities with mystic dialogues
once poured in bronze, now, my polished
and hard mortal otherness
gambling on metaphysical barters.
Replicating an Opacity’s
virtually veritable moment,
I seem to be,
mostly,
glassy reflections’ irrefutable evidence
of parallels seeking embrace,
clarity yet to be revealed,
a peek of crimson
on parted lips mimicking
a kiss for what appears
to be most missing
in today’s mythical conversation….
where lips
will conjure passions,
reflect their pulse
in sincere voice, then enact
my finest gifting
to add substance
to the Great Questions’
ever-thirsty extensions.