Photo Credit Daria Nepriakhina

Have you ever wondered why people find it so hard to see beyond the world outside of their limited belief systems? It seems that throughout the history of humanity we have believed in some sort of dogmatic and oppressive belief system: Whether it be religion; or belief in the superiority of leaders and kings; or the modern day kings and queens, known as celebrities; or the authority of government and financial institutions; we as a species have failed miserably to open our eyes for thousands of years to the lies we are told. Why?

Divide and Rule

There is only one simple answer to this question. People of different faiths, different belief systems, and different interests have been fighting for thousands of years, for the benefit of the elite few. There is only one way of doing this: convince people that they are fundamentally different and that the only way to solve them is by fighting each other.

Why do we always fall for this trick, hook line, and sinker? Because we humans are just too easy to manipulate. We are trained from a young age that we are right and the enemy is wrong, that we never need to question our society, institutions or belief systems. We will fight and even die to defend out belief systems because we associate their loss with the loss of very identity.

Question everything you are told

It's so satisfying to be righteous. It is much harder to face up to the idea that we might actually be wrong. Have you really looked at all the facts with an open mind or are you repeating what the media, your family, friends, and neighbours are saying like a tired old record?

With every belief system, you have to ask yourself: How do I know that to be true? Examine what you know to be true and how you have come to that conclusion. This will help you route negative and destructive belief systems that don't serve you or anyone else.

Shifting the blame

Are you taking responsibility or are you blaming others for your problems? Whether it be the rich, the bankers, sin, the immigrants, people of different religions or skin colour, the politicians, your parents or your partner: they are not responsible for your current problems, believe it or not. You are!

That's not to make you feel ashamed or guilty as that would be counterproductive. The truth is, nonetheless, that more often than not you and you alone have the power to change your situation for the better. You have to initiate change: Don't expect the world to change for you!

Love life, be yourself

To really open your eyes, you have to connect to who you are, without filters and without negative judgment. Being who you were born to be, a free soul open to all the great things the world has to offer.

It's not easy to be yourself in a world that wants you to fit into a box, but what is the alternative? To live a mediocre life dictated by the dogma that has kept everyone's eyes wide shut for millennia? No thank you!

There are currently 7 billion people in the world, each individual and each with their own perspective. To break free from dogma you need to find your own truth. You need to check what we know to be true and how we know it to be true. Do you really believe what we believe, with all your heart and mind? Or are you stuck in a circular thought pattern that is destructive and untrue?

What could you do today to check whether your beliefs are true?

Listen to your emotions

Try this. Close your eyes, feel into your body and say your belief system in your mind. How does that feel in your gut, in your heart and in the rest of your body? What would it feel like if you had the opposite belief?

Our emotions can guide us to our truth, but we are quickly manipulated out of this guidance system. Does the belief system that you are born in sin, for example, sit right in your gut? What about the very common 'I'm not good enough'. How does that feel? How about 'I'm unlovable'? How does that sit? Almost all of us hold many untrue belief systems that keep us from being and expressing who we truly are. When you change them, your whole life can change, they really are that powerful.

The Universal Truth

Beyond all dogma, all negative, destructive and disconnected belief systems, there is a truth that transcends all boundaries. It is unconditional love.

If we focus on what unites us instead of what divides us, on what empowers us instead of what disempowers us, in how we can help instead of how we can hurt ourselves and others, there really is no limit to what we could do as a human species.

It's easy to have the wool pulled over our eyes, to forget that we are all in the world together and to shift the blame onto others. It's easy to categorise people into groups and separate them according to their social status, religion or race. What is more challenging is to look beyond all of that and to see people for who they really are: human beings doing the best they can according to their belief systems and abilities, each able to teach you something new. Let us open our eyes and see the truth so that humanity can finally stop fighting and focus on creating a world of limitless possibilities!

Eyes wide shut. Why society finds it so hard to face up to the truth.