How to Learn What Your Beliefs Imply

If I had a hammer
I’d hammer in the morning
I’d hammer in the evening
All over this land
I’d hammer out danger
I’d hammer out a warning
I’d hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

…

Well I’ve got a hammer
And I’ve got a bell
And I’ve got a song to sing
All over this land
It’s the hammer of justice
It’s the bell of freedom
It’s the song about love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Oops. Sorry. I was just in the shower. Even those of us who can’t carry a tune in a bucket sound good in the echo chamber when no one’s listening.

Well, actually, no I’m not sorry. I like to sing. Not that this has anything to do with what I want to talk about.

Have you ever stopped to think about how laws get made? Someone does something that harms their neighbors, or something their neighbors don’t think they really ought to do. Right and wrong have nothing to do with it. In most instances right and wrong is just another way of saying accepted and not accepted. The next thing you know someone is saying There oughta be a law! In all too many cases, shortly after that there is a law. Then we end up with regulations to cover the gaps that are by necessity left when a general idea is put into words, and a bureaucracy to enforce the laws and regulations. As the society becomes more complex, which generally is a consequence of becoming larger, so does the web of laws and regulations within which it’s population lives. Soon you’ve gone from a code that can fit on two tablets to the US tax code, which no one can read and understand in their life time.

All because one person does something unacceptable to their neighbors.

The same thing happens in our internal lives. A popular method of character change is to develop an affirmation that details a characteristic or belief that you want to build in your personality. Each day you spend time focusing only on your affirmation. When you catch yourself thinking about something contrary to the affirmation, you repeat the affirmation to yourself while concentrating on its meaning. You can find out a lot a person by looking at their affirmations and goals. These always contain the seeds of the things from which they are trying to escape.

The yin always contains the seeds of yang. The yang always contains the seeds of yin. We can use this in working with our beliefs. If you get stuck, nothing coming to mind as you look at your beliefs regarding an area of your life, go back and look at the things you have listed. Each positive belief implies its opposite, as does each negative belief. In keeping with one of the common subjects of the hour, if you feel it necessary to state that you try to live in an enironmentally sustainable way, an entire range of beliefs underlies this one belief. You feel the environment is in trouble. You believe in some ways you do not live in tune with your environment. You believe that many others are actively out of touch with their effect on the environment. And on and on.

With just a little time and thought, you can become aware of the beliefs that you hold below the surface of your mind, just by starting from one obvious point. Any area you choose, you can do the same thing. One good key is any belief that you have expressed with a should. I should exercise each morning. I should get up early. I should write for an hour each day. People should pay attention to their own back yard. People should be kind to one another.

Maybe the song did have something to do with what I wanted to talk about.

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