Introduction
Ninety percent of your mistaken beliefs will never matter, because you’ll never come across any challenge to the beliefs that will be relevant to you. The ones that do matter are the ones that interface with your reality, your life, with the things you are trying to do…
Testing Beliefs
[In response to question: How do I know my beliefs are true?]
My first answer to your question is don’t worry about. We honestly believe what we honestly believe, because we believe it’s true.
If you are believing something’s not real, for example, that there is a doorway in that wall, you’ll bump up against it. If it’s relevant to your reality, then it becomes time to question it. You question it when it becomes uncomfortable, when you notice an incongruity between what you’re trying to do and what’s happening, something’s not working.
Say that you’ve been believing your gas tank is full, and your car starts to sputter. Then you might look at the gas gauge. Why? It’s bringing up the question, “Is my gas tank really full?” You’re lighting the match, and the tinder isn’t catching on fire. You thought it was dry and was able to be set on fire–that is now in question.
When you trip on it, when you bump into it, when something doesn’t work, then it becomes a question.
Ninety percent of your mistaken beliefs will never matter, because you’ll never come across any challenge to the beliefs that will be relevant to you. The ones that do matter are the ones that interface with your reality, your life, with the things you are trying to do.
When something you are trying to do just isn’t working, and you had every reason to believe it should work, you are coming across some ignorance of your own. There are two possible explanations for why you just don’t know. You are believing something that isn’t true or you’re lacking information. But in either case, you are lacking information. So my approach is, look for the information that you need–that will correct any misinformation that you have, and that will correct any mistaken beliefs you have.
If you are not holding onto your beliefs, and you don’t need to be right, but want things to work, then you never have to worry about deceiving yourself, because any mistakes, any prejudices, and misinformation you have, will evaporate in the light of being put to the test. Reality hits us, and now we know the truth. And if they never get put to the test, it doesn’t matter.
If you believe that there is a certain tribe of people somewhere in the world who have tails, I can’t imagine a situation where it would ever be a problem. If you come across a tribe with no tails, you’ll just say, “They’re not the ones!”
I wouldn’t be concerned about believing things that aren’t true. When it’s relevant, if you know you’re open minded, and interested in truth, they won’t stand the test.