November Project: Question #12
This question comes from Steven through email
I have read all the posts in this project and I find it interesting so far. But my question comes more from the comments. My questions is, if you don’t believe in an afterlife, don’t believe an enlightened age is coming, don’t believe in spiritual stages or whatever, what do you believe in?
Thanks for your question, Steven.
First, lets consider the phrase Don’t Believe. Don’t Believe is not the thing at all. There is a great deal of activity in Don’t Believe, and it is really not so very different from believing.
Don’t Believe also needs a contrary position, as in, “I don’t believe because of this or that.” You might also say Don’t Believe needs the “I”, but what is the “I” other than a contrary position?
Not that any of this is good or bad…we’re just exploring the words a bit. It might seem like mere semantics, and you may not have meant to use Don’t Believe in that way, so, sorry if this is a bit off the subject.
Your real question is, What do you believe?
What do you mean with the word Believe? Is it a bit of knowledge or something imagined? A little of both? Or are you using it the same as when someone talks about belief in god, and that sort of thing? Is it accepting something to be true? Is it from opinion? Faith? What do you mean when using that word?
In the way people normally use that word, belief has something behind it, yes? The belief needs you in some way, to expend your energy. If you have a belief, you carry it with you. You need to keep it close to you. Otherwise, it will come and go like any other thought.
Belief in this way, is different from a fact. You can say that a guitar neck is made of wood, and that is a fact, but you don’t have to believe it. The guitar neck doesn’t need you for it to go on, and if you stop believing in the thing, it is not going to turn into some other substance. It is what it is, with or without you.
We can go on and on with the words, but it is not so necessary. You asked, What do you believe? A better question might be, Where is belief? Where is it, and how am I to find it?
There is no sense of belief in this body. But I dont want to assume there is nothing here, because I do take this seriously. But all I am left with is the question, Where is belief?
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Where is belief? In your heart. Your heart will tell you where it is.
But the heart deceives as well as believes. Now where shall I look?
Why do you say the heart deceives? Is that not a belief? My experience has been that the heart is a good guide more oft than not.
Thanks, Hampton.
And I am sure, others will tell you the opposite.
That’s the beauty of personal experience
I think the heart, like many other sensory instruments, must be tuned. Perhaps in the case that you’re speaking of, a good dose of reason could work in concert to temper its excesses.
Thanks, Hampton.
I guess I have never really understood what people meant by listening to the heart. It is something we have heard all of our lives. But I don’t think I have thought much about it, to be honest.
The heart might not be any different from other ‘voices’….perhaps it sits in a comfy chair, wears comfy slippers, smokes a pipe, and gently pats us on the back while dispensing homespun advice….but I suppose that doesn’t make it any more accurate. I do like the sound of that, though.
I suspect one meaning of belief is something like: I have had this experience, I’m not sure if it was ‘real’ or whether I’m kidding myself – others tell me it is delusory but I still want it to have been real because the experience is precious to me.
Thanks, Evan.
Not only are those experiences precious, but we want them to continue without end…
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