Examine Your Spiritual Belief System

Your Belief Systems Are In Control

by: Jan Engels Smith

The following is an exercise, or process, you can use to explore the depths of your being. It is an exercise to discover your belief systems-what you believe to be true about yourself, about God , about life.

All of your actions are rooted in your belief system. Although most of your beliefs were formed as a child, they are in fact a choice. If you do not like what you believe, you can change it. As an adult, you have full control of your beliefs. In order to change, however, you must take a long, scrutinizing look at your particular belief structure.

Probe closely into your childhood beliefs. Look for the strong messages you received as a child. You may not yet realize that these strong messages usually constitute a major portion of your core belief structure and hold an incredible amount of power. Write these beliefs, or messages, down on paper in a list form. Keep the sentences short for easy reading. Again, you are searching for the core or foundation of a belief, not the philosophy behind it. After you have completed your list, write down what you would rather believe, what you would rather have heard as a child. This is the time to be co-creative and to use your imagination to construct a list that is ideal. Create the perfect God in your mind and on the paper-a belief system that will support you, love you, and work for you, not against you. There are no rules, except that you do this exercise in its entirety.

The following is a composite of the common belief statements I hear from my clients:

Common Beliefs ab

Stained glass at St John the Baptist’s Anglican Church http://ift.tt/1oHAFV6, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus’ description of himself “I am the Good Shepherd” (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: “To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

out God from Childhood

1. God is external, lives in heaven, and is separate from myself.

2. God is male and has male characteristics.

3. God has lots of rules. I had better not break a rule or I will be punished.

4. God does not always give me what I want. I have to deserve it, and if I mess up, He will hold it against me.

5. I can only pray for the will of God. If my prayer does not line up with His will, my prayer will not be answered.

6. I am selfish if I pray for myself and God does not like it when I do. Besides, I am too unworthy to pray for myself.

7. God punishes me and withholds my prayers to teach me a lesson. I deserve hard lessons.

8. God gets disappointed in my behavior.

9. God has human feelings such as anger, disappointment, revenge, and judgment.

10. There is only one way to God and heaven, and that is through Christianity.

11. All things in the Bible are true in the literal sense.

12. I need to be respectful of God. If I do not pray “right,” my prayers will not be answered.

13. God watches over me with a critical eye, seeing all the things I do. He waits for me to mess up, so that he can teach me another lesson.

14. It will be difficult to enter heaven if I do not keep God first and follow the rules.

15. I deserve to have it tough in life because I have done lots of bad things.

16. Mommy and Daddy say that God will not like me if I lie, cheat, steal, or do not brush my teeth.

17. If I do not believe just the way I am taught, I will burn in hell.

18. God is strict, but it is because I am undeserving and he is trying to teach me to be good.

19. Even though I am struggling financially, it is wrong to pray for money.

20. If I have money, I should give most of it away in order to show how grateful I am.

21. God disapproves of sex and shakes his head in disgust at me.

22. I do not think God likes me much. He does not show up very often.

Any person living with the above beliefs is going to have tremendous fear in his or her life. The whole system is based on judgment, fear, punishment, and not being good enough. It is structured on conditional love with strings attached to behavior. It would be difficult to find happiness under this system. The constant pressure from judgment alone would cause dis-ease to settle in the body. These beliefs stifle personal growth, imagination, and creativity. There is no foundation for self-worth to grow and develop.

As you review your list and discern the nature of your current belief system, remember that it represents choice. If it does not reflect what you desire, discard it. Let your imagination go and create a new belief system. Make a new list of what such a belief system could look like. Perhaps, it would look like this:

An Example of an Ideal Belief System

1. My God lives within me. I am part of God and God is part of me.

2. God has no gender, but is the essence of all things.

3. There is no right or wrong, good or bad, no punishment. There is a karmic balancing, consistent and founded in divine unconditional love.

4. I have complete choice in my behaviors without being judged.

5. God is love-unconditional-and this love is the basis of the universe. God loves all.

6. There is no right or wrong way to believe. All religions lead to the center, which is God.

7. Heaven is not a place that you go to; it is an attitude of the divine. Live and experience heaven in the now.

8. God is available to me in all circumstances. I am never without God. God is part of me.

9. I have full responsibility, as a co-creator with God, for all that I AM and all that is around me.

10. I am honored and revered in the universe.

11. I am a spirit having an earth experience. It is one of many experiences in the universe. My soul’s purpose on earth is to experience emotion.

12. I choose my life experience, like an actor choosing a script in a play. I choose everything about my living conditions for the divine purpose of my soul’s unfolding.

English: A prayer to God (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

13. All of my prayers are answered. My job as co-creator is to be clear with my intention so that my prayers can manifest.

14. There is abundance for all in the universe. If I have abundance in my life, it does not mean that someone else must go without.

15. I believe in miracles!

16. I am part of an exquisite whole. I am related to all life. I belong.

17. Angels can fly because they take things lightly.

A person with the above belief system is going to have a completely different outlook on life. Self-worth, self-empowerment, choice, unconditional love, honor, balance, and freedom will be reflected throughout the life of this individual. What one believes, becomes.

Source

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The post Examine Your Spiritual Belief System appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

What is a Belief System, and Why do I need it?

I’ve spoken with many people who, over time, have felt inundated by their lives. It seems as though they‘ve accumulated all of these memories and experiences, but the information seems jumbled and overwhelming. This pile of ‘mind junk’ keeps getting in their way whenever they attempt to move forward in life. It’s as if they feel that they have to deal with each and every disassociated memory lying on the floor of their brains.

Believe it or not, there is a way to organize all of your memories and experiences in a nice and tidy system that works only for you. It’s not an easy chore, but sometimes it is necessary to reinvent your belief system and redefine your values so that you can see clearer and be able to achieve the fulfilling life that you desire.

— A Belief System —

To begin a journey in life, we have to identify our belief systems. We all have one, but not all of us are sure where we put it or how it affects our lives. We tend to take our beliefs for granted and coast through life in hopes that everything works out for our own good. While that approach works for a while, it will catch up with us and leave us lying dormant for years until we figure out what it is that we need to do.

A belief system provides a core set of values on which we base everything we do, say, or believe. We can classify our values as a ‘set of rules’ that define how we process and store information as it comes in through our conscious mind. Our conscious mind takes these rules and shaves off the sides, planes the ends, and polishes the exterior to make it easier to process and store in our subconscious. The subconscious then takes this processed piece of information and, according to our rules, associates it with other information that we classify as ‘solid’ and ‘accurate.’ During this association, we begin to understand the new information and are better able to assimilate it for future reference.

It is when we receive new information that we can run into trouble. If we have a solid set of rules by which information is processed, the new information is stored in the same manner as all other information. However, any unknown elements are left open, like empty branches of a tree, to be filled with pertinent information that can help us understand how the new information fits into our lives. Since we have a base of knowledge from which to function, we can easily go out and find the answers to our questions to fill in the gaps that this new, unknown information created.

But, without any rules, new information is just tossed into the corner of our minds. Our conscious mind, in an attempt to organize the information, devises a set of questions that need to be answered. We then begin to focus on these issues, which eventually bring up other questions, causing us to cringe in fear and become stuck in our lives. Our minds are so caught up in these ‘free floating’ questions that we end up in a state of confusion and, in some cases, overwhelming depression because life seems to be caving in all around us completely out of control.

— Identifying a Belief System —

When we are born, we ‘are’ and it ‘is.’ We come into being and we become conscious of the things around us. Eventually, through experimentation, we find that things are hot, cold, hard, soft, bright, and dark. But, we have to go beyond those initial pieces of knowledge and learn to work with others, move about in the world, expand out consciousness, and become whatever we desire. However, we must be able to identify who we are before we can determine who we want to become and where we want to go in life. This is where we must define our current belief system and identify our current values.

To identify the core of your belief system, define those things that you hold dear. Family, friends, career, your car, a boat, and anything that you feel is important to you and, in some way, defines who you feel you are at this time. If you just say ‘high morals,’ that is not a belief; it is a ‘belief package’ that contains various aspects of what you believe. The core of a belief system contains things that mean something to you and provide you with your values.

The values are those items on which we base decisions and provide a foundation for associating and analyzing experiences. To find your core values, take each of your items from the previous paragraph and explain why these things are important to you. This will give you an idea of what you believe in, what you value in life.

— Redefining a Belief System —

The problem that we all run into from time to time is that our systems will fail us if we do not adjust them as we grow. It’s much like an old pair of ‘lucky’ socks that we begin wearing in little league. By the time we’re in our 40′s, while those socks might have helped us when we were 10; they’re full of holes and way too small to do us any good any longer.

You have to occasionally reassess your values to see if those rules of old still fit your current life and direction. These old values were put in place to keep us safe and get us started on the next leg of our journey. They allow us to process information such that we can categorize and file new information in a logical and orderly fashion. Such values keep us from doing things that, at that time, are dangerous to us emotionally, mentally, or physically. But, as we grow, mature, and learn, we are able to gradually handle more of what life hands to us. It is then that we must be able to reassess our values to get rid of old, unnecessary rules and put in place new ones that can allow us to move forward in life.

But, it is during that change that we feel fear. It is fear of the unknown because we are venturing outside of what we previously set up as boundaries for our safe harbor. At this moment we can feel lost if we don’t have some knowledge or new belief to put in its place. Overcoming the fear of change involves accepting that your beliefs will change over time and taking control of the change so that it occurs at your pace.

— What’s next? —

It is important to put forth the effort to define our belief systems through conscious, rational thought and logical deliberation. We have to consider our current values, examine our lives, establish a new set of values, and adjust these values as we grow, to accommodate future decisions and further growth. If we allow our subconscious mind to accumulate unanswered questions and unrelated information, we will process new information to create unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, unidentified wishes, doubts, and fears thrown together by chance into a mass of confusion called ‘self-doubt.’

A solid belief system provides you with a set of core values that mature with your experiences and knowledge. By organizing experiences, you are better able to organize how you handle future experiences. Organized experiences provide you with a sense of accomplishment because your perspective is one of success and control as opposed to having a morass of disconnected and confusing memories. By connecting knowledge and experiences through existing knowledge, you can associate situations with previous knowledge, and gain additional knowledge as you move through life.

Source

Related articles

• Peace of Mind: Transcending Thought


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• People can Achieve New Year’s Resolutions and Avoid Self-Sabotage –…


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The post What is a Belief System, and Why do I need it? appeared first on Robert JR Graham.

What is a Belief System, and Why do I need it?

I’ve spoken with many people who, over time, have felt inundated by their lives. It seems as though they‘ve accumulated all of these memories and experiences, but the information seems jumbled and overwhelming. This pile of ‘mind junk’ keeps getting in their way whenever they attempt to move forward in life. It’s as if they feel that they have to deal with each and every disassociated memory lying on the floor of their brains.

Believe it or not, there is a way to organize all of your memories and experiences in a nice and tidy system that works only for you. It’s not an easy chore, but sometimes it is necessary to reinvent your belief system and redefine your values so that you can see clearer and be able to achieve the fulfilling life that you desire.

— A Belief System —

To begin a journey in life, we have to identify our belief systems. We all have one, but not all of us are sure where we put it or how it affects our lives. We tend to take our beliefs for granted and coast through life in hopes that everything works out for our own good. While that approach works for a while, it will catch up with us and leave us lying dormant for years until we figure out what it is that we need to do.

A belief system provides a core set of values on which we base everything we do, say, or believe. We can classify our values as a ‘set of rules’ that define how we process and store information as it comes in through our conscious mind. Our conscious mind takes these rules and shaves off the sides, planes the ends, and polishes the exterior to make it easier to process and store in our subconscious. The subconscious then takes this processed piece of information and, according to our rules, associates it with other information that we classify as ‘solid’ and ‘accurate.’ During this association, we begin to understand the new information and are better able to assimilate it for future reference.

It is when we receive new information that we can run into trouble. If we have a solid set of rules by which information is processed, the new information is stored in the same manner as all other information. However, any unknown elements are left open, like empty branches of a tree, to be filled with pertinent information that can help us understand how the new information fits into our lives. Since we have a base of knowledge from which to function, we can easily go out and find the answers to our questions to fill in the gaps that this new, unknown information created.

But, without any rules, new information is just tossed into the corner of our minds. Our conscious mind, in an attempt to organize the information, devises a set of questions that need to be answered. We then begin to focus on these issues, which eventually bring up other questions, causing us to cringe in fear and become stuck in our lives. Our minds are so caught up in these ‘free floating’ questions that we end up in a state of confusion and, in some cases, overwhelming depression because life seems to be caving in all around us completely out of control.

— Identifying a Belief System —

When we are born, we ‘are’ and it ‘is.’ We come into being and we become conscious of the things around us. Eventually, through experimentation, we find that things are hot, cold, hard, soft, bright, and dark. But, we have to go beyond those initial pieces of knowledge and learn to work with others, move about in the world, expand out consciousness, and become whatever we desire. However, we must be able to identify who we are before we can determine who we want to become and where we want to go in life. This is where we must define our current belief system and identify our current values.

To identify the core of your belief system, define those things that you hold dear. Family, friends, career, your car, a boat, and anything that you feel is important to you and, in some way, defines who you feel you are at this time. If you just say ‘high morals,’ that is not a belief; it is a ‘belief package’ that contains various aspects of what you believe. The core of a belief system contains things that mean something to you and provide you with your values.

The values are those items on which we base decisions and provide a foundation for associating and analyzing experiences. To find your core values, take each of your items from the previous paragraph and explain why these things are important to you. This will give you an idea of what you believe in, what you value in life.

— Redefining a Belief System —

The problem that we all run into from time to time is that our systems will fail us if we do not adjust them as we grow. It’s much like an old pair of ‘lucky’ socks that we begin wearing in little league. By the time we’re in our 40′s, while those socks might have helped us when we were 10; they’re full of holes and way too small to do us any good any longer.

You have to occasionally reassess your values to see if those rules of old still fit your current life and direction. These old values were put in place to keep us safe and get us started on the next leg of our journey. They allow us to process information such that we can categorize and file new information in a logical and orderly fashion. Such values keep us from doing things that, at that time, are dangerous to us emotionally, mentally, or physically. But, as we grow, mature, and learn, we are able to gradually handle more of what life hands to us. It is then that we must be able to reassess our values to get rid of old, unnecessary rules and put in place new ones that can allow us to move forward in life.

But, it is during that change that we feel fear. It is fear of the unknown because we are venturing outside of what we previously set up as boundaries for our safe harbor. At this moment we can feel lost if we don’t have some knowledge or new belief to put in its place. Overcoming the fear of change involves accepting that your beliefs will change over time and taking control of the change so that it occurs at your pace.

— What’s next? —

It is important to put forth the effort to define our belief systems through conscious, rational thought and logical deliberation. We have to consider our current values, examine our lives, establish a new set of values, and adjust these values as we grow, to accommodate future decisions and further growth. If we allow our subconscious mind to accumulate unanswered questions and unrelated information, we will process new information to create unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, unidentified wishes, doubts, and fears thrown together by chance into a mass of confusion called ‘self-doubt.’

A solid belief system provides you with a set of core values that mature with your experiences and knowledge. By organizing experiences, you are better able to organize how you handle future experiences. Organized experiences provide you with a sense of accomplishment because your perspective is one of success and control as opposed to having a morass of disconnected and confusing memories. By connecting knowledge and experiences through existing knowledge, you can associate situations with previous knowledge, and gain additional knowledge as you move through life.

Source

Related articles

• Peace of Mind: Transcending Thought


• Your Beliefs


• The Subconscious Mind In Action


• The Littlest Agnostic


• Not Without Our Consent


• We’re Limiting Ourselves through Expectation


• People can Achieve New Year’s Resolutions and Avoid Self-Sabotage –…


• The Constant Self Is Real


• People can Achieve New Year’s Resolutions and Avoid Self-Sabotage — so say Authors Tanya Chernova and Joanna Andros in UNDERMIND, from Indigo River Publishing


• What Is Natureology

Examine Your Spiritual Belief System

Your Belief Systems Are In Control

by: Jan Engels Smith

The following is an exercise, or process, you can use to explore the depths of your being. It is an exercise to discover your belief systems-what you believe to be true about yourself, about God , about life.

All of your actions are rooted in your belief system. Although most of your beliefs were formed as a child, they are in fact a choice. If you do not like what you believe, you can change it. As an adult, you have full control of your beliefs. In order to change, however, you must take a long, scrutinizing look at your particular belief structure.

Probe closely into your childhood beliefs. Look for the strong messages you received as a child. You may not yet realize that these strong messages usually constitute a major portion of your core belief structure and hold an incredible amount of power. Write these beliefs, or messages, down on paper in a list form. Keep the sentences short for easy reading. Again, you are searching for the core or foundation of a belief, not the philosophy behind it. After you have completed your list, write down what you would rather believe, what you would rather have heard as a child. This is the time to be co-creative and to use your imagination to construct a list that is ideal. Create the perfect God in your mind and on the paper-a belief system that will support you, love you, and work for you, not against you. There are no rules, except that you do this exercise in its entirety.

The following is a composite of the common belief statements I hear from my clients:

Common Beliefs ab

Stained glass at St John the Baptist’s Anglican Church http://ift.tt/1oHAFV6, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus’ description of himself “I am the Good Shepherd” (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: “To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs.” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

out God from Childhood

1. God is external, lives in heaven, and is separate from myself.

2. God is male and has male characteristics.

3. God has lots of rules. I had better not break a rule or I will be punished.

4. God does not always give me what I want. I have to deserve it, and if I mess up, He will hold it against me.

5. I can only pray for the will of God. If my prayer does not line up with His will, my prayer will not be answered.

6. I am selfish if I pray for myself and God does not like it when I do. Besides, I am too unworthy to pray for myself.

7. God punishes me and withholds my prayers to teach me a lesson. I deserve hard lessons.

8. God gets disappointed in my behavior.

9. God has human feelings such as anger, disappointment, revenge, and judgment.

10. There is only one way to God and heaven, and that is through Christianity.

11. All things in the Bible are true in the literal sense.

12. I need to be respectful of God. If I do not pray “right,” my prayers will not be answered.

13. God watches over me with a critical eye, seeing all the things I do. He waits for me to mess up, so that he can teach me another lesson.

14. It will be difficult to enter heaven if I do not keep God first and follow the rules.

15. I deserve to have it tough in life because I have done lots of bad things.

16. Mommy and Daddy say that God will not like me if I lie, cheat, steal, or do not brush my teeth.

17. If I do not believe just the way I am taught, I will burn in hell.

18. God is strict, but it is because I am undeserving and he is trying to teach me to be good.

19. Even though I am struggling financially, it is wrong to pray for money.

20. If I have money, I should give most of it away in order to show how grateful I am.

21. God disapproves of sex and shakes his head in disgust at me.

22. I do not think God likes me much. He does not show up very often.

Any person living with the above beliefs is going to have tremendous fear in his or her life. The whole system is based on judgment, fear, punishment, and not being good enough. It is structured on conditional love with strings attached to behavior. It would be difficult to find happiness under this system. The constant pressure from judgment alone would cause dis-ease to settle in the body. These beliefs stifle personal growth, imagination, and creativity. There is no foundation for self-worth to grow and develop.

As you review your list and discern the nature of your current belief system, remember that it represents choice. If it does not reflect what you desire, discard it. Let your imagination go and create a new belief system. Make a new list of what such a belief system could look like. Perhaps, it would look like this:

An Example of an Ideal Belief System

1. My God lives within me. I am part of God and God is part of me.

2. God has no gender, but is the essence of all things.

3. There is no right or wrong, good or bad, no punishment. There is a karmic balancing, consistent and founded in divine unconditional love.

4. I have complete choice in my behaviors without being judged.

5. God is love-unconditional-and this love is the basis of the universe. God loves all.

6. There is no right or wrong way to believe. All religions lead to the center, which is God.

7. Heaven is not a place that you go to; it is an attitude of the divine. Live and experience heaven in the now.

8. God is available to me in all circumstances. I am never without God. God is part of me.

9. I have full responsibility, as a co-creator with God, for all that I AM and all that is around me.

10. I am honored and revered in the universe.

11. I am a spirit having an earth experience. It is one of many experiences in the universe. My soul’s purpose on earth is to experience emotion.

12. I choose my life experience, like an actor choosing a script in a play. I choose everything about my living conditions for the divine purpose of my soul’s unfolding.

English: A prayer to God (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

13. All of my prayers are answered. My job as co-creator is to be clear with my intention so that my prayers can manifest.

14. There is abundance for all in the universe. If I have abundance in my life, it does not mean that someone else must go without.

15. I believe in miracles!

16. I am part of an exquisite whole. I am related to all life. I belong.

17. Angels can fly because they take things lightly.

A person with the above belief system is going to have a completely different outlook on life. Self-worth, self-empowerment, choice, unconditional love, honor, balance, and freedom will be reflected throughout the life of this individual. What one believes, becomes.

Source

Related articles

• What Is Natureology


• What We Believe


• A Prayerless Christian Is A Powerless Christian!


• What Does it Mean to Follow Jesus?


• All too often we’re filled with negative and limiting beliefs.


• My Last Prayer


• Spirituality and Salvation: Sane or Senseless?


• Belief: John Mayer and the Shape of Belief

Robert Recommends...

• The Language of the Soul


• Seven Keys to Effective Prayer


• Doomsday


• Powerful Keys to Personal Transformation


• Four Disciplines To Getting What You Want


• Your Prayers Matter