-THE PSYCHOLOGY OF BELIEF-
Over the years I have come to certain
perspectives about the nature of belief,
as I have experienced it for myself,
and how I have observed it in others.
Certain things have stood out
over and over again.
The two most prevalent motivations
behind belief are “Comfort” and “Fear”.
I will believe that which makes me feel
comfortable, in control, and safe.
If I do not have confidence in my own
ability to feel these things,
I will look to something outside of myself
to provide them.
Traditionally, we have been encouraged by
religion, education, politics, and the media
to hand our self-belief over to their guidance.
And this brings me to that second motivation,
“Fear”
When I am afraid,
I question my ability to survive
the slings and arrows of life,
I doubt my own innate wisdom and intuition
to figure things out for me.
After all, isn’t that how we
have discovered and created
all that we see manifesting
from human ingenuity.
Being open to being supported
by those who genuinely care for and love us
is a beautiful thing and most welcome.
However, whenever we see the hunger
for power and profit behind the disguise
of carefully worded slogans such as,
“New World Order” where
“you will own nothing and be happy”
are clear proclamations of
control and dominance.
And the way to generate compliance
to such dominance and control
is to constantly generate conflict
and fear in the minds of each of us.
When you are afraid for any length of time
you become so stressed
you cannot think straight,
hence the term, “Cognitive Dissonance”.
The psychology of belief has become,
and historically, has been used as a weapon.
The challenge and invitation
from “Great Nature” and our
inherent “Spirituality” is to move
beyond belief and into “knowing”.
We know, when we listen closely,
that we are a part of something much greater,
We intuitively know the difference between
love and ill intent, between truth and deception.
It is generally not something we believe,
but something we know in our bones and heart.
The heart is a bridge between
our lower and higher nature.
The heart knows and is our great wisdom keeper.
The more I trust my heart
the more I know the path that is right for me.
The logical mind will try to make sense
of what the heart already knows,
which can often throw us off course.
This is why we must “feel” the truth of things
and not fall prey to endless debate.
There are many illusions that we take to be real
and this can lead to many false beliefs.
The other day I was sitting at the bank
of a beautiful stream.
The water was slowly flowing by.
I saw a tuff of moss floating just below the surface.
The sun shining on the water
cast a shadow of the tuff of moss
a foot or so behind its upper movement
and onto the floor of the stream
and for a second I thought it was
an underwater creature of some kind
swimming along, only to realize it was
the shadow of the tuff of moss.
So often, it is our shadows that appear as real
until we take a closer look.
The gift of taking a close look at our shadows
is that it takes us to the surface
of what is truly real and beautiful.
May you take the time to see the difference,
especially during these challenging times.
-TruGuy Stefan Feb 8th, 2023
(Image from Pixabay)
