Personal belief systems are the ideas that define how we view ourselves in this reality. They can be subconscious feelings or conscious judgements from this or other dimensions. They do not necessarily have to originate in this lifetime or this reality. However, by their nature of defining who we are, they also force us to behave as if we are who we affirm to be. Until we change our notions of who we are, we live in the prison of our personal belief systems.
In the United States, a lot of people define themselves by what they do for a living or how much money they make. This is due to the capitalistic nature of the society. Some modern thought churches use the concept of "prosperity" to say that God wants you to be abundant in all things, including possessions, fame, stature. They teach that the lack of prosperity is nothing more than a belief in lack. During this period of high unemployment, 2001-2003, people are starting to see that prosperity can also mean spiritual prosperity. The art of living a meaningful life, with or without money. Although, the churches are correct in asserting that a belief in lack will create lack, they could also teach that prosperity doesn't necessarily have to mean an abundant supply of money. One of the interesting ways of affirming or counteracting the belief in lack is to say: "I am abundant in all things." Or it can be more specific. The point is that often, we pray affirming lack, rather than affirming wealth. For instance, we might pray: "God, I need a job." This is an affirmation of lack based on a personal belief that you "need" a job. That there isn't a job out there for you. That it won't come in time. It is a prayer of lack that the universe is only too willing to fullfill by not having any jobs available. The more appropriate prayer would be: "Thank you God for the accounting job at a large, Fortune 500 firm, close to my home." This is a very specific prayer that shouts out a belief in abundance and not in lack. This is one example of a personal belief system, and probably not the best, but one that almost everyone can relate to.
Another personal belief system might be the idea that one is not as intelligent, beautiful, funny, or charming as others. Instead of connecting with our inner Divinity which is astoundingly beautiful, we affirm the negative of our base personalities. This isn't humbleness, this is a lack of self-esteem. The idea is to come to terms with yourself that you do not need to compare your personal life to anyone else's for you to have value. We are all children of God and all worthy of Love. If we do not allow God to approach us due to our negative self-images, God will not enforce his Love on anyone. It's up to us to overcome our negative personal beliefs.
Some people believe that in order to be worthy of love they need to please other people. This can escalate to the point where the person becomes a terminal giver and allows others to abuse their generosity to uphold a belief that they are worthy of love. Co-dependence and Panic Disorders are psychological situations that stem from personal belief systems that trap a person into living other people's lives instead of claiming their own inner Divinity and blazing their own path with a passion of purpose. Other people believe that people owe them because they are above everyone else and this is sometimes termed Narcissistic Personality Disorder. These all deal with personal belief systems that are detrimental to the inner soul and will diminish the entitie's capacity to overcome the boundaries of their reality for more pleasant surroundings. Seeking counseling is a wise decision for those that find themselves too overwhelmed with the present reality to shake the emprisonment of thier souls in this dimension.
For those with less severe personal belief systems, it is wise to find a spiritual teacher or mentor who can reflect the personal beliefs that hamper you that you may not even know you hold as personal truths. A stable personality is essential to interdimensional traveling because if you can't handle 3D, might as well not try a more complex dimension. There are dangers of causing a more severe mental or emotional imbalance than is already present. Start by knowing the person you are here in 3D before you explore other facets of yourself in other dimensions.
Which leads me to the personal belief in using drugs to reach other dimensions. This is not a safe way to travel. Drugs are strongly discouraged as a means of opening the mind to other dimensions. The human mind is closed not out of ignorance as much as out of necessity. To open it without setting a firm psychological basis is to invite trouble. If a person works on thier inner world enough to become stable and works with more natural methods like those on this site, there is less danger of opening a window that should have remained shut. If the inner work is done, the psychic opening will occur spontaneously and quite naturally and cause minimal psychic shock to the person involved. Forcing anything through drugs or magic rituals before your mind is capable of accepting a wider world is an invitation for disaster. Please heed this warning. It is for your safety. The idea is to become a whole integrated psyche, not a split fragmented soul.
Religions
All religions have some truth as thier basis. That is my belief. There are many paths to God. The problem with religion isn't so much that they are "wrong" or that they are "right." It's that people use them to justify thier lack of love and intolerance to their neighbors. When a person insists that their way is the "only way" then we have a rigid belief system that doesn't allow for other ways.
No matter what religion I pick, I know that this is a sensitive subject. Let me start by saying that no matter what religion you are, if it has helped you to become a better, more loving, person then it has been a good choice for you. I do not wish to denigrate the religious beliefs of others. What I do ask you to consider though is if this belief allows you to grow your Love of God and Neighbor or if it produces Fear. Fear is the antithesis of Love, not hatred. Love is all-accepting. My favorite definition of love is in the Bible:
"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. "
So, when we see the definition of love, we begin to understand that fear is the antithesis of love. When we are fearful we are not patient or kind. We can be jealous or boastful or arrogant or rude. We can insist on our own way, be irritable and resentful. Unfortunately, religion has been the biggest tool used to promote fear upon the masses. The idea of eternal damnation if an ideology is not followed to the letter is nothing more than the active promotion of fear. This is how we can have things like the Crusades, and even fanatical people hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings killing thousands. Why? Is it because Christianity or Moslems are evil? Or is it because the message of love inherent in both these religions has been distorted by either followers or people within their sects?
Now, you are probably wondering what this has to do with dimensional traveling. Here is where the true test of what you believe surfaces. Imagine for an instance that you have left this dimension of physicality for a higher dimension where your thoughts, desires and fears automatically manifest in front of you. The astral plane is one such dimension. If you have beliefs that are fear-based due to your religious indoctrination, they will manifest in front of you to your extreme horror. And who is to blame? Everyone has free will to choose thier belief systems, be they religious or otherwise. Stay in whatever religious system feels comfortable to you, but focus on the message of love, not of fear. This will make your dimensional travels far more pleasant.
Spirituality As A Road Block
Spirituality is the act of seeking a higher consciousness through all facets of life: business, family, art, religion, even sleeping. It embraces the whole of human experience but does not confine it to a single belief system. It is the connection within to the Divine that gets strengthened, not the connection to the belief structures of man. How can this all-encompassing and embracing philosophy become a belief system? As some people gain spirituality, often they lose their connection with the mass mind and begin to think of themselves as special. They set themselves apart from "ordinary" humanity that hasn't been enlightened or that hasn't had direct revelations of God. In this delusional state, many people begin to fantasize that their mission in life is greater than everyone else's mission. That other people were put on this earth to support their spiritual unfoldment and in return, the select Servant of God will bestow God's revelations to others and save them from "separation from God." Some may even possess psychic abilities that confirm to their believers that they are, in fact, set apart from others and worthy to be supported monetarily, emotionally, and physically. Thus, the person who is claiming spiritual superiority is actually serving themselves by obtaining glory and power for their own ego and not for the purpose of uplifting mankind.
As humanity progresses, this type of hero worship will decline, in my opinion. It is the result of a misunderstanding of God's infinite capacity to bestow his gifts on everyone, not just the select few. Any spiritual authority that attests to their own Divinity while denying others theirs is not a doing a service to mankind. We all may not have access to all of the dimensions of ourselves in the same timespace coordinate as others, but we all have that capability. The true hero is the one that helps those to find the hero within themselves.
Another delusion that occurs due to spiritual belief systems is the belief in Personal Universal Laws. There are Universal Laws such as karma and attraction, but they are not belief systems until we are assured that we know exactly how they are supposed to work for everyone instead of how they work for humanity. We can not possibly know what another person's path is until we've walked a few of their past lives in our moccasins. I have heard it said that there is a Law of Prosperity that if one is only to focus on wealth, instead of lack, one will obtain wealth. This assumes that those that are not attracting wealth, or health, or a mate or any other quantity defined in a "Universal Law" has done something wrong in their thinking or creating. This is a belief system, plain and simple. There is no right or wrong from the point of view of the higher self. There is only experience and that experience is concerned with creating light, truth and love in the world. If that means that someone chooses to experience sickness in order to help others cure themselves, then this is what occurs. If a higher self wishes to identify with disempowerment and failure to help others succeed, then this is what occurs. The goal is not personal and the effect is not personal either. There are no personal universal laws. It's an oxymoron, in my opinion.
The goal in any form of spirituality should not be about self-service, but service to others. In this way, we transcend our personal limitations and open the doors to the dimensions of our larger selves, a Universal Brotherhood/Sisterhood of Man.
The Scientific Method
The western world has had dramatic improvements in the condition of the human race due to scientific inquiry. This inquiry not only disproved some of the false belief systems of prior ages, but also laid the foundation for an unbiased approach to further development. The scientific discipline involves the establishment of a "theory" and then a rigorous system of experiments to either prove or disprove a theory. This an important understanding. Theories are not Laws. The Theory of Relativity is not a law. It is a concept that has proven to stand the test of time with multiple scientists devising experiments to either support or break down the theory.
Unfortunately, this rigorous approach to life has been misused by people less knowledgeable who insist that if something can't be seen, touched, felt, heard, or tasted that this means it doesn't satisfy scientific method and it is a sham. We are back to a the idea that if it doesn't fit into our world as we know it, we won't accept the possibility of its existence, whatever "it" is. It takes a Galilean soul to stand up to the popular agreement of the day and say: "I think the world is round."
Many things on these pages will be deemed "unscientific." In fact, dimensions as a theory is relatively new and still hotly debated. Superstring theory is a theory that has many detrators and supporters. Does this mean you will be unwilling to open your mind to the possibility? Does science demand that we say something doesn't exist because personally we don't know how it works? Or does science demand an open mind, a rigorous experimental approach, and a "look and see" type of attitude? The only way to test these dimensions is to personally experience them. That means laying aside the skepticism, if only momentarily, and allowing your world to widen to embrace larger concepts. If after some work, it still is not real to you, then go about your business and realize it may not be for you. But, this has not proven the non-existence of these dimensions as in science we all know that you can not prove a negative.
©1999-Claire Moylan
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