Photo by Vasilis Caravitis on Unsplash
Truth is a very slippery thing and if you spend any time contemplating it you’ll soon find how few things qualify as abiding, enduring, and universally applicable. Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t. In fact, I think wrestling with what is true is some of the wisest and most important time you can spend.
And (not but, and…) I think that it is often easier to start with beliefs. Because they aren’t some intellectual or ethereal concepts of truth, they are your truths incarnate. They live in and through you.
Now, I want you to leave any and all ideas you have about truth and think about your beliefs, instead. Think of anything you believe about the world or anyone in it – anything at all. Pick one.
Got it?
Now, instead of thinking about it in terms of whether or not it is true, think about it in this framework instead: Is it useful? Is it fruitful? Is it helpful? And, if so, how?
Then, expand your target audience. If you initially answered those questions in terms of yourself, think about whether it holds true for others, as well – or, if you thought of others first, try asking the questions in terms of yourself.
Many of these things will be prickly and difficult, because they work in some cases, but not in others. Because, as it turns out, the belief’s applicability is determined by context, not by some overarching, infallible truth.
So much of what we believe escapes direct examination in our lives. We consider our beliefs to be the rudder by which we guide our ships, but it would be more apt to consider them the sea we’re adrift on. Questioning the beliefs is the rudder. It’s our best bet for setting, navigating, and recalibrating our course.
Is it comfortable? Often not. But it makes for a life more nuanced and more fulfilling. And, perhaps counterintuitively, examining our beliefs affords us a life we can more deeply believe in.
Beautifully written! I like the way you gently approach and explore this topic. Questioning one's beliefs, and even the idea of questioning one's beliefs, can seem like dissenting, disloyal, heretical territory - reasoning your way into dangerous spiritual realms. And yet, don't we all have a great amount of emotional and mental grasping of our beliefs? We hold them up as the ultimate truth without realizing that our positions actually lead us to a banquet of inner and outer dis-eases. There are certainly basic truths: everyone gets sick, everyone dies, everyone experiences ups-and-downs. Don't the rigid beliefs limit our abilities to connect to each other? Lead to judgement of each other and condemnation - refusal to support or care for one another?
In my experience, especially through insight meditation, I find that the more and more I release the emotional and mental tensions around MY beliefs and MY views about life and what is true, the wider the understanding and wisdom gets; it's as if the more angles of truth come into focus. Of course, practice and dedication are key to this and whenever I fall out of practice, those wider perspectives dry up; this is not an egotistical claim. Wider perspectives are not MINE, they just happen.
I believe the release of the emotional and mental tension around my beliefs and my view results in a natural by-product of ease. Your musings bring levity to difficult topic and encourage reflection! Well done. Please keep sharing!