I keep coming around to the notion that when you believe something to be the truth, the subconscious mind acts as if it really is the truth. This concept stood out strong after reading The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz a few months ago because he goes into this concept in great detail. The basic example goes something like this: If you believe what someone tells you, your body (and mind) respond in physical ways that go to support that belief. In other words, upon accepting that new truth you’re Being starts to resonate with the energy of that statement as if its truth. Even when you don’t put conscious energy into living up to that new truth, your subconscious mind will take care of that task for you.
It’s really amazing how thorough the subconscious mind is when it comes to fulfilling your every desire!
Just the other day, I came across this concept again in The Biology of Belief (on pages 103-4):
… We can actively choose how to respond to most environmental signals and whether we even want to respond at all. The conscious mind’s capacity to override the subconscious mind’s preprogrammed behaviors is the foundation of free will.
However, our special gift comes with a special pitfall. While almost all organisms have to actually experience the stimuli of life first-hand, the human brain’s ability to “learn” perceptions is so advanced that we can actually acquire perceptions indirectly from teachers. Once we accept the perceptions of others as “truths,” their perceptions become hardwired into our own brains, becoming our “truths.”
From Dr. Lipton’s point of view, (which has strong roots in cellular interactions), a thought or belief is a stimuli for the cells regardless to whether it’s true or not. Once the stimuli are produced, the cells react. It’s really that simple.
Based on this, he states:
… Yes, perception “controls” biology, but as we’ve seen, these perceptions can be true or false. Therefore, we would be more accurate to refer to these controlling perceptions as beliefs.
Beliefs control biology!
So, what it really comes down to is: Do you believe what you’re told? Or do you seek the truth for yourself?
One of the most beautiful things about human Beings is that we have built in feedback systems that allow us to discover truths for ourselves. Some people believe that the systems are subtle, but I’m learning that they are a whole lot more dynamic than people give them credit for.
In my experience, the number one feedback system is emotion! There’s no faster way to know if something is right for you than to listen to how it makes you feel. Likewise, there is no better way to determine if what you’re doing is right (or wrong) than to pay attention to the emotions that you feel when you’re doing it. If those emotions make you feel good, the actions that you’re doing are most likely in harmony with your spirit. Those actions are most likely in harmony with the environment too.
What does this speak of truth? Well, if you’re body (and mind (read: ego)) resonate to some statement that is not in harmony with the truth (as you know it) you can feel this emotional affects as dis-ease. The sensation is similar to the sensation you ‘hear’ when tuning an instrument. The energy needed to maintain the statement gives off vibrations that are either in tune with the spirit of your Being or not. If you ‘feel’ the discord, then focusing specifically on the ‘root of that instrument’ will allow you to find a way to either tune it up or discard the statement as being inharmonic with your Being.
As we know from previous studies (Is my current belief system serving me?), everything that we’ve come to know of as being physical – hard – matter is really invisible energy (soft). All this ‘matter’ resonates with life whether we pay attention to it or not. As we pull it into our immediate environment (consuming it) we’re empowered by its vibration or hindered by its discord. If someone is not sensitive enough to feel the individual vibrations, they can still observe the affects that it has on the body (human system).
Finding harmony in yourself is a great way to enhance your sensitivity to emotions. With a little practice and conscious observation (of the feedback) you should be able to discern what it is that is in harmony with your spirit and what is not.
Ultimately, you choose what you are and how you want to be. At any moment you can re-analyze any statement that you carry around as truth to see if that truth is one that you want to continue to resonate with (identify with). If you find that the statement is not truth, it will fall away.
Things that were once truths don’t always have to be truths. Find the truths that resonate strongest with you and experience those! Consciously choosing to not carry around inharmonic truths is the fastest way to living in harmony with yourself.
Listen – do you feel that harmonic vibration?
