Belief is an Omniverse Operator

I believe this to be true (that your reality is defined by what you believe), but I'd like to add some personal notes to it.

If we define belief to be an unshakeable convinction, an inner knowledge of something to be true - this is the faith which can move mountains, this is the kind of belief which can really affect and transform one's everyday reality, this is the kind of faith which really determines the after-life experience in the "bardos" -, then I find it to be VERY difficult - perhaps even impossible - to come to such a belief by the use of the human intellect or the practice of any spiritual discipline alone. It's true that one can practice a certain belief-system, saturate one's brain in the corresponding teachings every day and then, after a while, one may begin to really feel and experience the results of that practice in everyday life. But my personal experience is that this kind of "belief" does not always pass the test of real-life experience. Most of these beliefs have a "working limit": they tend to break down when Life tests them in areas of the human soul which they don't know anything about, when Life goes deeper than what these beliefs can reach. And Life does do that, to show us that our beliefs are limited and that we shall continue our search.

I could say that these belief systems tend to break down in "extreme" situations because they do not have the necessary support from the "other side", or even if they have support, that is only of a limited nature (although even that might appear very comforting and awe-inspiring to us, after all that's how we become hooked.)

I always wanted something that is Absolute, in the fullest sense of the word, something which never leaves me, something on which I can count, something which - by studying its teachings and following its law - never ceases, but always increases in knowledge and wisdom, which kind of "ignites" itself once I really gather the courage to step onto its path.

After a lot of seeking, I finally found my personal Absolute in Christianity, whose most important statement is that God manifested himself in human history in the form of Jesus Christ, in order to rebalance the cosmic equation whose imbalance - without his intervention - would have made it IMPOSSIBLE for us to reach the heavens again. By his love, we have a shortcut now, which only waits for us to grab it and then - by his power - it immediately puts us back on track to our heavenly home (on this Earth or a new one, I don't know but I don't care; this is not my task to think about any more, fortunately :-).

Here is one of my favorite quotes from the Book, which gives a hint about what this is all about:

"A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.) So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you – a Jew – ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said to him, “you have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do you get this living water? Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.”

Jesus replied, “Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

(What I really want to say to you is that never stop searching until you find the Light - and you will know it - and be honest to yourselves: don't take something which is limited for the Everything. Fortunately, we are constructed in such a way that we can never believe the False totally, with our totality. Just like Darth Vader. :-)

Interesting, Cellux. That's the first interpretation of Jesus' story I've ever heard, from a believer, that actually sounds intelligible. Would love to talk to you, if you have the time? Replace 'Spam' with 'Cellux' to email.

Lets say, for the sake of arguement, I agree that consciousness is the fount of all things. How does consciousness itself exist?

And there is the heart of the matter. This question you shall avoid, you shall cry irrelevant, you shall cry meaningless. Atleast that has been my experiance with these kinds of topics.

It has been apparent to me for some time that the greatest mystery of this 'everything' is not 'what it is', but 'how it is able to be'.

It is only by focusing on 'how it is able to be' that we can ever hope to finally rid ourselves of the 'answers' that are not answers, that spring forth more questions that are then left unanswered, that are then refused to be answered.

Let me ask you, does a consciousness that simply exists, SATISFY your curiosity? When my Great Grandmother, God rest her soul, started telling me stories when I was barely out of the cradle, of God that created the World, that was the START of my curiosity, not the end of it. This all being fount of all that is, does not have to justify its presence to you? I am amazed, when God says to me, 'I am God, the creator of everything you see, everything that is, I am the source and the creation.' I am going to say 'Thats nice God, but I have always wanted to know how you got here.'

Multidimensionalty, forgive me for being ignorant, would appear to be merely a new, more complete, vision of our Universe unlocked by the observation and contemplation of our 'reality'.
So instead of the 4 dimensions we experiance, there is actually a whole bunch more, meaning tremendous implications.

Pray tell, how this helps to, in anyway, determine the Absolute Ultimate? We dont have the slightest clue how 'far' our universe 'is' from the true ultimate. We may simply find ourselves observing a continuous unbreaking chain of structures, never once being able to break free of the 'material' of our existance, the structures and laws within which it resides, and the 'cradles' holding and allowing our existances to be.
It interesting, but if your destination is absolute truth, then you better find a faster method of 'transport' than physical science for the time being.

There is a fundamental problem, in my mind, with any entity that simply is, and that is that it is there.

Thank you Paul, I really needed to hear those words. Seriously, thanks.

Paul, that was one of the best posts in a long time, deeply true, and now resonating strongly.

And that quote from Lilly-- one of my favorites -- was immortalized by the Shamen about 10 years ago in a song called 'The Moment,' where it is rephrased: "Each new belief is a limit itself to be transcended."
Not that that's important -- I just always get a smile seeing that quote, or hearing it in that song. Its something we all need vitally to take to heart.

And you're right about what you said regarding the Imagination -- I've experienced it for myself. Its liberating.

Peace to you and yours ...

"You are co-creator of Infinite Omniverses. You can relax now, there is nothing to loose. You are already your higher self, all you have to do is let go and just be."

Except that might not be the way it actually is, even if belief in it is the path to the highest fulfillment of the self that is possible 'today'.

You start off by claiming, correctly, that if one believes in something, something that elevates them to Godhood, that in their relative existance, in their perceived reality, they will be something that is Godlike.
How many people that believe they can fly survive the experiment to prove it? With this 'Godhood' there is no proof beyond the answers of Death, so if you if you have had 'experiances' or 'visions' that only enhance your beleif that your belief is true, then yes in your mind you will be all that you believe, and your beleif can never be shattered, because if you are wrong your consciousness will be obliterated.

But how is this other anything than the ultimate in avoiding the truth? You parents gave you life, there is no way you can claim that your relative existance is all that matters. Maybe in your mind it is all that matters, that same mind that tells you you are God and creator of infinate TRUE existances.

"You are co-creator of Infinite Omniverses. You can relax now, there is nothing to loose. You are already your higher self, all you have to do is let go and just be."

The only infinate omniverses I create are the ones inside my head. I would far rather study the origins of the one I inhabit, than glory in the existance of the ones within my mind ;)

"Instead of matter being primary, and the source of everything we know, including mind; consciousness becomes primary, and the source of everything, including matter, as we know it. "

No consciousness becomes the source of our result of the perception of the external.

Did you know Paul, that the speed of light is different in a vacuum than it is traveling through glass?
"New paradigms stand or fall according to their ability to account for persistent anomalies, and incorporate new findings. The emerging new superparadigm accounts for consciousness—an intractable anomaly for the old model, remember. It offers radically new perspectives on some of the most perplexing problems in contemporary physics. And, most significantly, points towards a resolution of one of the oldest challenges of all—the reconciliation of the scientific worldview with the spiritual."

It doesnt account for consciousness, it perverts views and works of philosophy to place consciousness firmly at the centre of all things. You pervert Kant, who claimed the 'self' to be a kind of hall of mirrors, twisting and altering ones observations according to ones experiance, and you use this AS PROOF that consciousness is the root of everything?

It is semantics pushing forward a WRONG concept. Consciousness may well be the root of why some people see an act as wrong, and others and act as good. But what about all the aspects people completely agree upon? Such as ones height and weight? If I create my height and weight, why Am i not a Giant? Because if I claim so I get locked up in a mental institute!

"A noetic science — a science of consciousness and the world of inner experience"

Think of this Paul, how hard is it for you to mould the external world around you into the world you keep so close to your heart. View your last 3 posts Paul, there is your answer. You are only God of the worlds you create in your mind. If that is where you are comfortable then so be it. But do not claim, and provide such proof, that my mind is that such God of the world that granted me my very existance, because the twisted concept of 'individual' can be abused to allude to such.

I am certainly no God of this world around me at this very moment.

I know my views will be extravagantly and expertly shredded, but I am asking you to be careful, very careful in finding the 'proof' for your views. Be very careful in not putting forward another polluted vision, when there is so much potential here.

Be careful.

Paul,

I really love reading your pieces; they resonate so deeply within me. I fantasize all the time, and I feel lost because I live for these fantasies, whereas others live for reality. I'm in a vicious cycle; the more I fantasize the more I want to realize my fantasies, and yet, they seem so unachievable. I can identify with your recent emotional struggle; it is how I've been feeling virtually all of my adult life.

P.S. Even though I don't know any of the people on this board, in some ways I feel closer to you all than to anyone else. I hope all of us here find infinite sublimity some day.

I just think things are extra weird in general currently. There seems to be a lot of extra 'information' available and that you've just gone through may be some sort of transitional phase with its attendant discomfort. So phew!

Belief, faith etc are probably going to be the only way to go in order to fully access what is there to be accessed.

In this vein, has anyone looked at the boy, Palden Dorje, who has been meditating in Nepal for about eight months. What do you and your readers make of this/that?

event horizon wrote:

It has been apparent to me for some time that the greatest mystery of this 'everything' is not 'what it is', but 'how it is able to be'.

Well, I think the greatest mystery is really that we will never know the final answer. The hubris of scientific (and philosophic) reasoning assumes that the answer is out there and can grasped by our little monkey brains. I continue to find fault in this line of reasoning and I can use the simple analogy that a computer can never create an exact model of itself.

What's left after the final question remains unanswered is simply experience. The timeless moment of awe at the great fugue of creation flowing between us. No questions and no answers. Just ***

Regarding your take on consciousness and the valid questions you raise, it should be noted that the root of the problem is semantic. Your points, EH, are referring to personal consciousness of the self. The consciousness that Paul and others exploring this notion are referring to is a universal consciousness. Think of it as a 5th fundamental force (as an intersting magickal aside, consider the evolution of the 4-fold tetragrammaton of yod he vau he towards the 5-fold pentagrammatic representation of yod he shin vau heh). So along with the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, the strong and weak nuclear forces, we posit a fifth - a conscious force.

The underlying notion is that our sentience is intimately tied into the very foundations of reality. Not necessarily that what I think is what is real but that my ability to think is a microcosmic reflection of a universal awareness. Of course this starts to sound a bit theological but we can observe that nature is very often holographic in that simple rules function across vast scales. So it would seem likely that human consciousness is but one level of a larger (and perhaps much smaller) form of consciousness fundamental to the fabric of spacetime.

Back to the original point of the post, and to once again bring in the magickal principles, belief can be foolhearty or it can be accurate. If one believes that one can fly, they will quickly realize their will in a heap of bones and blood on the pavement below. But if one believes that they can create a machine that will allow them to fly, with sufficient focus of will it will come to pass.

The belief of one's personal will must align with the universal Will. This is analogous to the two forms of the self: the personal self and the universal Self. When the two are aligned, great magick is afoot and one can truly bend reality. This is the dialectic between spirit and matter, inspiration and technology. Would you have thought, 15 years ago, that the world would be interconnected by a vast yet invisible web of information accesible by anyone with the appropriate technology? The internet is a manifestation of human will, of belief, aligned with the currently understood rules of physics and technology. If you were to believe that such a creation was impossible (as it may have seemed a few decades back), and if your belief spread to enough minds, do you think we'd still have an internet today? Belief in the ability to manifest imagination is the foundation and the impetus of human creation.

Consider cyberspace. In 1986(?) William Gibson creation a narrative so compelling, a fiction so inviting, that throngs of cybergeeks have been dutifully working since to bring it to reality. Contrast this to the Boook of Revelations and consider the religious right. They too are working to bring the narrative of Judgement Day to reality, make no mistake about it. A simple survey of geopolitics in the Middle East, a look a quotes from Ronald Reagen, Pat Buchanan, and Hal Lindsey, can confirm that these people believe in their myth and are doing whatever necessary to make it happen.

Where people misunderstand belief is in viewing it in a vaccuum. Belief inspires action. Action creates reality. Consciousness flows through all of these.

Ivx23 wrote:

"The hubris of scientific (and philosophic) reasoning assumes that the answer is out there and can grasped by our little monkey brains."

Yes, yes, yes. Ivx23. That particular point and, in general, the rest of your post was a very coherent explanation of the idea that 'the mind can never know the nature of mind' even though it will endlessly try. The acceptance of this concept is usually very frustrating for the mind (not surprisingly), but the concept certainly re-occurs in all the long-lasting philosophies that various monkey brains have so far extrapolated. Many of the very very best minds have come to this conclusion - interestingly through many different routes. This concept tells the mind (ego?) that it is not the only thing required for the 'whole' experience, maybe it's not required at all: that it is only a part of consciousness or sentience. Feel mind kick, kick, kick at that idea.

For a more practical explanation, it is worth considering that the equipment used (hardware/software) and the skill of the operator are so very intrinsic to the results obtained. Eg I can't work out how to make the quote from Ivx23 be in bold type. That doesn't mean that the function is not there, it just means that I am not a very skilled operator of this computer, of this program......that I am unable access what is available. So, when one realises that the equipment they are using, or their ability to use it are not up to scratch, there is room for learning or growth. (If what is, and what we have, are adequate we would all still be using the original computers or something.)

It has been interesting to note that some people seem quite uncomfortable with Paul being 'emotional' or 'bleak'. As if he has 'lost his mind'. I think that he is just exploring another part of his OS and it's interface with the larger OS. Paul Version ? I think that he is to brave for doing this in the public eye. Perturbating is so often frowned upon and suppressed. It can make people uncomfortable.

The logical mind must only be a small part of our consciousness, the consciousness that leads us to realise that the logical mind must only be a small part of our consciousness. (It's OK to do emotions and feelings too.) These kind of realisations set up an annoying nested loop (see previous sentence) which certainly doesn't satiate that part of our consciousness that wants to analyse, count, quantify and tick off as understood. That would be the......logical mind.

In his book, 'The Re-enchantment of the World', Morris Berman presents the idea of vertical and horizontal cultures. A simplistic explanation is that our modern society is vertical, very mind-based and controlled and older societies are horizontal, in touch with nature's rhythms and eroticised by their close relationship with the wildness around them.

His conclusion was that we would do well to strive for something at a more 45 degree angle. I think that is what is happening right now. The realisation that when we dance between the vertical (awake, standing up, mind, spirit) and the horizontal (sleeping, lying down, feeling, will) and all states in between we have more access to 'the game' rather than staying at one point or another. Bardo-dancing. That in the end there is only play. I think that is why so many people are looking to more seemingly magical systems for information as well as science.

Our point of power is how we play, who we play with, where in the playground we play and the quality of our play which hopefully gives us some meaning and insight into why we play.

So what about this Buddha Boy guys! Is he not an interesting playmate?

its simplicity in it self, the mind creates the body and vise versa the along with all we experience and think all of this things effect and shape each other.a reflection of a reflection of a reflection on into infinity until it simply becomes one thing.

Wow! what an idea ! What a concept ! Beautiful .. Amazing

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