Belief
Sometimes the rocks in the road are so close they are very hard to see.
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,
Our core beliefs are challenged daily and rightly so. A core belief is something we hold near and dear to us. Core beliefs help us make sense of our world. They are often "facts" but more often than not, not. Even if they are 'facts', the facts, as core beliefs, get in the way of our seeing for ourselves.
We go through our day perceiving and using our core beliefs as litmus tests: do these perceptions match, that is, are they "true"? Do they not match, that is, are they "false"? We say, "I believe" this or that and accept or reject another point of view based on this "belief".
We might say, "My faith is true and these are its tenet's." And if we are told some other tenet, we measure it against our own and embrace it or dismiss it on that basis. It is this which is so very troubling about faith.
In this sense, faith in some tenet or other distorts and blocks our view.
But it is also troubling about all other matters of discrimination and valuation. My culture is better, mine is the original, mine is more pure, etc.
In some cultures, pride, one of the seven so-called deadly sins, has been elevated to a near cultural requirement. In the United States, for example, we have a bumper sticker, widely distributed, touting pride. We should be very careful here. There is a reason ancients thought pride was deadly.
Any time we think we are right, we should look deeply inward. Examine the cause of this thought. Remember it is only a thought and in the best case, within a few minutes or hours it will be forgotten, or worst case, stored for further use as a filter of our experience. We should also be very careful about our feelings which rise in response to thoughts. Are the feelings appropriate given the thought may be distorted?
Zen practice demands we address our actual lives, our actual experience. It demands we clarify. It demands we distill, cleanse, and see clearly without reference to our core beliefs. It is only through such a process that we will see with a clear mind.
Be well.
Good Morning Everyone,
Our core beliefs are challenged daily and rightly so. A core belief is something we hold near and dear to us. Core beliefs help us make sense of our world. They are often "facts" but more often than not, not. Even if they are 'facts', the facts, as core beliefs, get in the way of our seeing for ourselves.
We go through our day perceiving and using our core beliefs as litmus tests: do these perceptions match, that is, are they "true"? Do they not match, that is, are they "false"? We say, "I believe" this or that and accept or reject another point of view based on this "belief".
We might say, "My faith is true and these are its tenet's." And if we are told some other tenet, we measure it against our own and embrace it or dismiss it on that basis. It is this which is so very troubling about faith.
In this sense, faith in some tenet or other distorts and blocks our view.
But it is also troubling about all other matters of discrimination and valuation. My culture is better, mine is the original, mine is more pure, etc.
In some cultures, pride, one of the seven so-called deadly sins, has been elevated to a near cultural requirement. In the United States, for example, we have a bumper sticker, widely distributed, touting pride. We should be very careful here. There is a reason ancients thought pride was deadly.
Any time we think we are right, we should look deeply inward. Examine the cause of this thought. Remember it is only a thought and in the best case, within a few minutes or hours it will be forgotten, or worst case, stored for further use as a filter of our experience. We should also be very careful about our feelings which rise in response to thoughts. Are the feelings appropriate given the thought may be distorted?
Zen practice demands we address our actual lives, our actual experience. It demands we clarify. It demands we distill, cleanse, and see clearly without reference to our core beliefs. It is only through such a process that we will see with a clear mind.
Be well.