Beliefs are not reality

Feelings and thoughts are real but not true. A thought is real in that it really is present in real-time, yet it is not a truthful representation of reality, including the reality of you or others.

Every sensation, thought and feeling you experience is a discrete bit of data moving through your system. This data is always real in the sense that it is really happening within you. However, the truthfulness of this piece of data cannot be extrapolated based on the sheer existence of it.  This is a simple, yet powerful and humbling distinction.

For example, the feeling of anger is real but the assumption extrapolated from this anger is not a true indication of reality, rather it is a bias, personal interpretation of an internal state.

Our thoughts and feelings often create a veil between us and reality. Worse even is the failure to recognize that beliefs are also thoughts and feelings, not reality.  Beliefs exist within us, making them a real experience, but they do not tell us anything about who we are or what is the truth actually is.

This teaching is experiential meaning that it must be experienced in order to be understood. One of the biggest benefits of it is that it eliminates the need to be right and reduces the hold unwanted beliefs and emotions have over us.

As we learn to view the brain as an information processing organ, we can dis-identify from its output, in the same way we have learned from an early age, not to associate reality with the output of other organs.  The mind makes sense of information based on the data already stored inside of it, whereas true reality is not limited to the data stored within each individual brain.

Accessing this capacity is quite simple, and it begins with observation. Instead of engaging with your internal stuff, you can learn to just observe it. This is similar to going to a cafe and people watching, as opposed to interacting and engaging with those around.

The first step begins with learning to identify a thought as a thought, a feeling as a feeling, and a sensation as a sensation.

 Exercise: Let’s begin with thoughts.

Set your timer for 1 minute and close your eyes. Every time you notice a thought, label it as a thought, either by using your internal voice or stating it out-loud, “thought.” Imagine you are working on a conveyer belt and your job is to place a “thought” label on each thought that comes out.

Next do the same with feelings/emotions and sensations.

Feelings/emotions are recognizable, discernible, experiential states such as confused, happy, excited, worried, scared, worried, etc.

Sensations are related to the five senses, eyesight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. You may label a sensation when you register the sound of a dog barking, the feeling of your chair beneath you, the feeling and sound of your belly gurgling, the smell of lavender, etc.

 After you’ve completed this exercise take some time to reflect on what you’ve noticed.

The simplicity of this practice makes it accessible to anyone, yet the depth and meaning of it is grasped only by those brave enough to question their view of reality.

So, what are the benefits of this?

 Without observation, the foreground and background of mind are blended together.

The person is firmly identified with all that arises within, each passing sensation or belief is unconsciously regarded as truth, and often acted on. Whereas an observer stance cultivates the capacity to differentiate a thought or feeling from the truth of self or others. A negative thought becomes just a thought, a painful feeling is experienced as such, a pain in the body, without attributing any greater meaning to it.

 Over time, the concept of self becomes rooted in the observer-self, the one observing internal matter, the unchanged part of self that is cognizant of mental content, but is not the content itself. The blank canvas onto which paint is applied over, not the paint itself.

One of the most pronounced benefits of this teaching is the development of emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand, use and manage emotions in useful and positive ways. Deep, meaningful relationships with others are rooted in this form of intelligence. Other benefits may include stress reduction, improved assertiveness, and better focus.

With the practice of observation, differentiating truth from passing temporary emotion or belief, without blindly extrapolating and reacting, becomes possible. This lends itself well to reducing destructive relational patterns including, defensiveness, attacking, blaming and stonewalling.

“This is a thought and not a truth,” is a powerful mantra to be put into action by identifying thoughts, feelings and beliefs as bits of free-floating data; data that is not reflective of reality at large, but simply an observed event in real-time that dissolves into the next bit of data the moment we become aware of it.