Holding on to beliefs limits our experience of life

One of my practices is to not attach to beliefs. We really know very little. What is true most often depends on context and interpretation. Both of which are always changing and differ from person to person. What is right for me may not be right for you. What is right for me today may not be what I need tomorrow.

Practicing non-attachment to belief and also being aware of when perhaps I’m not able to do this has opened up my world in lovely ways. Fixation is stagnation. Dogma is a fixation of belief.

Healing and resiliency, I’ve found, require a lack of fixation…a sort of fluidity of spirit and intention. It is from this place that much of my healing comes.

By not attaching to belief we can also reframe our experience and thus the narratives of our lives. This is powerful medicine really.

In Taoism there’s a famous saying that goes, “The Tao that can be spoken is not the ultimate Tao.” Another way you could say that, although I’ve never seen it translated this way, is, “As soon as you begin to believe in something, then you can no longer see anything else.” The truth you believe in and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

Holding on to beliefs limits our experience of life. That doesn’t mean that beliefs or ideas or thinking is a problem; the stubborn attitude of having to have things be a particular way, grasping on to our beliefs and thoughts, all these cause the problems. To put it simply, using your belief system this way creates a situation in which you choose to be blind instead of being able to see, to be deaf instead of being able to hear, to be dead rather than alive, asleep rather than awake. – by Pema Chödrön — From Awakening Loving-Kindness

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GENERAL DISCLAIMER: I often publish authors whose articles I appreciate while maybe not agreeing with everything. My pieces, also, cannot stand alone. Some of my work contains ideas that may sometimes seem to contradict other pieces because all cannot be said in short essays. It's wise to avoid assumptions based on a few posts. Attitudes have also not remained stagnant over time and the archives reflect the passage of of many years. Some articles contain links to other resources on the Internet. Links are provided as citations to help identify more information and are not intended to state or imply that this site recommends, endorses, supports, sponsors, or is in any way affiliated or associated with any person or entity associated with the linked material. Use your judgment in all things. Nothing on these pages should be construed as medical advice.

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