Our beliefs are mental models we live by. They are parameters for the reality as we perceive it and allow our mind to interpret the sensory inputs. We operate in a realm that is based on a specific story, a particular way in which everything unfolds in our construct of reality. Its elements are operating based on upholding collective and individual rules. We are born, we do all the things in between and then we die. We need food and air to live. Money seems like a limited resource and so does time. Reality seems fixed from the perspective of an ordinary human experience. But is it really?
Yes, until you begin expanding your perception of what this world really is…
BELIEFS ARE NOTHING MORE THAN ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT REALITY
It all starts with questioning your beliefs. You can do so by asking yourself: “how do I know this?” Simply take a given assertion and move it from the “what is” category to the “possibilities” mental bucket. Then watch how the apparent external world begins to change. The more fundamental the belief, the more tangible the change. Why? Because you are conditioned to see what you expect to be out there!
Try recalling a time in your life when you shifted out of an old mindset by replacing some beliefs with new ones. Did you notice your external reality morphing into something else? In that moment, a change of guard presents an opportunity to glimpse how everything is malleable and adjustable according to the individual (you) and the collective understanding of things.
Your beliefs act as both, permissions and borders creating a box in which you operate while thinking that it’s all there is. The longer you hold on to these beliefs the more that particular version of reality solidifies around you. This solidification is felt as an internal pressure or a sense that the world is shrinking around you as you are experiencing the same thing over and over again with a greater intensity.
For instance, say you believe that the presence of some family members makes you feel depleted. The more you pay attention to it, the more depleted you become. Soon, you will begin to attract more people who act as energetic vampires in your story until being drained becomes unbearable and you feel like you have to do something about it. Usually the first impulse is to tweak the seeming outer world (really, the external is a reflection of the inner world) to mitigate the discomfort. That may bring a temporary relief, but the external factor you’re fighting will usually eventually find its way back in with a vengeance.
FIXATION AND DISSOCIATION ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN
So how can we change our reality? First thing you have to do is stop fighting it. The more you fight what is, the more pronounced it will be. Because to resist something you need to first believe it’s there. Your preoccupation will make its existence more real. Your resistance reinforces the belief and multiplies that which you do not want.
An experience will persist when you fixate on it.
Another way with which people try to deal with their perceived reality is by dissociating from it. It is widely practiced in New Age circles, where for instance, a person simply pretends that an unpleasant reaction to an undesirable outcome did not happen. They may use spiritual concepts as mental constructs and retreat towards living in the abstract world inside their heads. When you are dissociated you may think about having an emotional sensation, but you are not feeling it. You are no longer participating in the experience and are out of touch with the reality that you nevertheless create. This, just like fixation will usually lead to the thing that you are trying to avoid coming at you with vengeance. Dissociation eventually invites chaos and potential physical conditions (especially in joints) as our body is linked to our emotional states and knows when you lie to yourself.
THERE IS NO BOX OTHER THAN THE ONE YOU SET UP FOR YOURSELF
So how do we get out of the box? All that is required is a slight shift of perception. The idea of escaping something puts you right back into the space that you don’t want to be in. It is not about getting out. There is nothing to get out of. The pressure to escape is the very thing that creates the boundaries. If you repeat to yourself: “I really dislike not having money, I have to find a way to escape this state of not having enough” you are actively reinforcing the lack of money in the moment. And the more you say it the more you solidify that reality around you.
What’s needed is a shift in understanding of what this whole reality really is. When you experientially get how your temporary assumptions (beliefs) shape your perception and what’s materializing for you, that’s when you begin to comprehend who you really are. And with that you can shed the beliefs and limitations given to you by others. As you progress, you will begin to move in and out of this reality – but not in a dissociative kind of way, but one by which you can hold both, your individual human experience, and the broader picture of being the living awareness that is ALL.
When you are in that glimpse, where you are just pure awareness, the time shatters and you can finally see the Reality as it is, without the filters. That’s when you can begin bringing in some serious magic into this world.
Margaret Eliza Keays
If you want to talk about a specific situation you are perceptually stuck on, book a mentoring session here: www.calendly.com/margaretkeays or email me at [email protected]
For perception-reframing courses go here: www.margaretkeays.com/courses
