Believing, is Seeing

Is there such a thing as Absolute Reality? Or do we just concoct our own version?
Two people who experience a single event perceive it in different ways. If reality is always relative and based on individual perceptions of our environment, events and relationships, it would imply that our perceptions create our reality. Thus reality is just a function of our perceptions.

What creates perceptions?
Perceptions are filters that our brain creates to interpret different sensory inputs. The defining parameters of these filters are affected by a lot of factors. Lifestyle, genetic makeup, environment, upbringing, education, success and failure, subconscious state, etc shape the filters. These filters are nothing but our belief system. We see things tainted with our beliefs and that becomes our reality. Which is why, the same glass is seen as half filled or half empty or too much glass, by people with different belief systems. Thus, believing, is seeing!

Can we consciously change our beliefs?
Beliefs are simply learnt subroutines in the brain. They are simply interpretive functions that make sense of our senses. Beliefs are the paths our neural impulses take when faced with sensory inputs. Synaptic weights control the direction and strength of the traveling neural signal, thus controlling the type and intensity of the reaction. Both synaptic weights and neural pathways can be changed over time. This proves that the brains hardware comes with a reprogrammable interface.

How do we actually change these neural pathways and synaptic weights?
Synaptic weights, like most other body functions follow the "use 'em, or lose 'em" rule. Synaptic weights change when we force impulses along alternative paths. The strength of the synapse is directly proportional to the frequency of impulses traveling along that path, modulo a damping factor. This is done simply be consciously altering the flow of one's thoughts.

Imagine that X is in the habit of criticizing people for trivial things. Every time someone makes a mistake, X has to criticize them and show them the way he would avoid it. In the beginning, he may criticize someone, realize his mistake, and force himself to apologize. In the brain architecture, this translates into the creation of an alternative neural pathway. The more often he does this, the stronger the synaptic weights for this new path get. By the same token, the original path weakens. Eventually (this process often takes time, of the order of a month or two), a complete replacement occurs, substituting the old (critical) path with the new (non-critical) path.

Can any belief be changed? Are earlier beliefs completely destroyed by this change?
Every belief is the synaptic trigger that creates a thought. Every thought is an electro-chemical impulse thundering down neural pathways. All neural pathways can atrophy and regenerate. All synaptic triggers (weights) too are prone to change. Thus, we can change every belief we hold.

Where the destruction of the earlier belief is concerned, the answer is both yes and no. It is yes, in that impulses travel along newer pathways, defining new beliefs. It is no, in that the earlier path is not destroyed, just side-tracked. A neglected trail in the woods gets overgrown with brush, it can still be salvaged with just a few trail-goers walking down that path for a short time. Since only the synaptic weights have changed, and the neural path is weak, but still available, it can be rejuvenated quite quickly with just a few impulses traveling along it. This explains why it is so easy to fall back into old habits and beliefs.

For the path (and hence old beliefs) to be wiped off the face of the brain completely, time seems to be the only way. This is in accordance with the Law of cause and delayed effect. In time, the brain will recruit those unused neurons into other needed areas (most likely to form new beliefs, hence new neural structures) thus completely destroying the old paths. This process takes about a month or so in most people.

What happens once our beliefs change?
We have already established that our beliefs define our perceptions, and that changing our belief system is possible. Once we start looking at things with a custom-designed set of beliefs, we essentially custom-design the things we look at. Once we alter those beliefs that hold us back, we can mould our lives into whatever we want them to be. Who would have believed, that beliefs are so powerful? That, my friends, is a limiting belief!

What are limiting beliefs, and what are the most common?
Limiting beliefs are basically negative thoughts that hold us back. Most powerful limiting beliefs are simmering deep within our subconscious mind. We often do and feel things without knowing why. Most intuition can be traced back to some subconscious belief. Similarly, gut-feeling is subconscious in origin, not gastronomic.

Our entire constitution is defined by our beliefs. You are what you think. Everyone grows up having limiting beliefs. These are limiting because they limit our senses to perceive a broader, better reality. Losing weight, quitting smoking, achieving popularity and success, making a million dollars, having a loving relationship, becoming healthy are among the few effects of changing our beliefs. Somewhere, deep within our subconscious mind, we have chains that bind us, hold us back, limit us. All we need to do is identify that chain, replace the chain with a rocket booster, and fly towards our goal.

Common limiting beliefs are ...

• I can't do that
• I don't deserve to be happy
• I can never become popular/famous/rich/loved
• I can't seem to lose weight
• I am not attractive enough
  
• I can never win this contest
• Money is the root of all evil
• If I feel good, then I am doing something wrong
• etc...
  

The most common limiting belief is:

• Murphy's Law (If anything can go wrong, it will) seems to apply every time. This belief is so rampant and destructive, that it goes on destroying everything that you think will go wrong. In a way, its a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The question is, can we come up with a good self-fulfilling prophecy?

Can we create our own reality?
We can control our reality by controlling our beliefs. The first step is to identify all our limiting beliefs. This is not easy, because the subconscious mind is a difficult creature to probe. Since most of our decisions are subconscious, we never realize how much of our life, these beliefs control. If we question every decision, intuition, feeling and emotion we feel, then we can trace them back to the belief that gave them birth. Soon, all limiting beliefs will be identified and we will become sharper at recognizing them.

The next step is to deliberately change these beliefs. Every time we have a negative thought, we should consciously re-word it in a positive manner, and truly believe in it. The important thing to realize is that we are dealing with the subconscious mind, which is a very powerful beast. Taming it requires time and patience. But the change shall happen. In time, we will change our brain circuits and we will start seeing the change in our lives.

Once we shatter the shackles of our limiting beliefs, we can live life to the fullest, savor each moment, be truly happy and at peace.

--Sandeep Ranade