Life Beyond Belief, Dismantling the Illusion

It’s interesting to see how much confusion there is in life as we stare at what is right in front of us through the veil of the beliefs, concepts and stories we live by. We do not see the world as it is, we see it as we believe ourselves to be. The core beliefs which our life experiences reflect have been with us so long we don’t even realize they aren’t the truth, so even when we are looking right at it, the truth remains hidden from our awareness.
I realized a very important fact long before I recognized the wealth of possibility it was pointing to; it is the absence of limiting belief that allows possibilities to unfold rather than belief in those same possibilities. Let me give you an example of what I mean.
When I was in my mid 20’s I started a new oilfield supply company in central Alberta. It was the latter part of the 70’s and I am here to tell you it was unheard of for a woman, especially such a young woman to do such a thing. The company grew and was pretty successful for the better part of eight years. During that time I was often asked how I came to accomplish this feat. I had friends who were quite in awe of it all who were every bit as intelligent and capable as I was but they never did anything like it. Being asked so often how I did it, I remember realizing very clearly that it wasn’t because I had something they didn’t; it was really the opposite, I didn’t have the belief that I couldn’t, which they did. I grew up with a very absent father and a mother who did what she needed to do to keep the family going. I wasn’t really subjected to the idea that men were the business people and women were not. Nobody told me I couldn’t so I just went ahead and did it with very little consideration of the idea that women simply didn’t do that.
Now let’s juxtapose that with a situation that took place a few years after I had put my company into receivership which happened during one of the major recessions in the oil industry. I eventually ended up working for a personal development company in Calgary, starting in marketing and very quickly becoming area manager. The company had been growing in the area and right in the middle of our biggest seminar we were the center of a very negative, distorted story in the Calgary Herald. We were devastated, and decimated by it. I didn’t get how deeply it had affected me and the others involved until much later when we found ourselves unable to climb back up to a level that was really sustainable. I had no idea that the beliefs that had developed around the unresolved pain of my earlier experiences could be so debilitating.
So there it is, the absence of belief in limitation compared to the limitation of belief engendered by unresolved pain. That is really the story of the human condition. There is sweetness and innocence in the child, which is where the clear, open space of possibility resides, before the pain of life comes along and decisions are made about the way life is. The sweetness and innocence, which is always there beyond the limitations of those decisions, is Infinite Source and is always present. We just need to dismantle the illusion created by the conclusions we’ve come to so that its absence can clear the way to what is, and always has been, true and awesome and magnificent about Life.
The Liberation Process and the philosophy it is based on came through in response to this ‘need’. While the process itself is simple it really isn’t all that easy. It’s like learning to speak a new language which it really is for most people. It’s actually the opposite of what society tends teach us about what to do with the pain and discomforts of life. We’ve learned to distract ourselves, to cope, to avoid, to wallow and to resist but precious few have learned to take it all apart and live in the creative flow that is beyond the defense mechanisms. For many it seems easier to keep doing what they’ve been doing even if it doesn’t work because it’s what they know. For others the old way of being has grown intolerable and so there is openness to something new. There is no right and wrong about any of this, there is only what we are called to which is beyond what we generally understand.
Here are a few elements that I see as essential for moving toward being freed of the bonds of belief:
1) The desire for the truth becomes stronger than the status quo. We often say we want the truth but are so caught up in maintaining what we have that we really have to admit that we don’t. Then there comes a point for some where the desire for the truth becomes so strong it takes over as the driving force in life and you can’t do anything but seek it, however you are led to do so.
2) A high level of compassion for yourself. Without acceptance and understanding, which is how I define compassion, there is little movement. The feelings we are called to embrace and the kinds of beliefs we come to realize are controlling us are not easy to face. Much of it is mired in guilt and shame which is generally avoided at all costs but must be faced if there is to be any dissipation of the fog they create. Without compassion this can become yet another form of self-abuse, in other words, more of the same.
3) Patience and persistence. How old are you? Well, that’s just about how long you’ve been in the thrall of your core beliefs so how can you truly expect that to change significantly in a day or two? We live in such an instantaneous world that we expect even the deepest of fears and pain along with the inherent beliefs that have become attached to them to simply disappear with a pill or an affirmation or some magic remedy. You aren’t sick, you’re just confused but the confusion runs deep. When you get in touch with your core beliefs you get to see all the ways they play out in your life which is the beginning of the end for them; note that it is the beginning of the end. Persistence is required in order to dissolve the entire root system of any core belief, think dandelion.
OK, now for the good news. Even though beliefs don’t usually disappear in an instant (though some of the less rooted variety can) life becomes easier and the creative flow increases every time we turn around and face the illusion rather than trying to run away. There is much grace involved here; hmm, perhaps it would be more accurate to say its all grace. We do what we are led to do because it is what is ours to do. We weren’t wrong or bad for believing what we believed in the first place, we could do no other; what is, is. The real question is now what?
Have you been trying to make changes in your life and finding that it isn’t working for you?
The Liberation Process is about dismantling the illusions created by the artificial meaning we have given life through our beliefs, assumptions and stories. It is a simple yet very powerful way of moving from the limitation and frustration of being caught in the trap of our own belief systems to the clear, open space of wonder where inspiration and creativity flow.
The Liberation Process consists of the following four basic components:
Breath - breathing fully, becoming present to what is going on within in the moment and interrupting the dead end thought patterns that have been playing in your mind.
Feelings – following the breath inward you notice and focus gently on the physical sensations, usually in the torso, where the patterns and beliefs are anchored.
Beliefs – after a moment of gentle acknowledgment you identify, question and ultimately dismantle the beliefs that you become aware of as you maintain your focus on the area of the body you identified earlier.
Wonder – asking open ended, expansive questions and resting in the space of possibility. (ie I wonder what’s possible now?) Then take action as inspired.
Life beyond belief lies on the other side of the illusion and it truly is a world filled with wonder.