How many of you believe in nothing?

Post Reply New Topic

The only thing I know is that my beliefs have constantly changed over the years. From Christianity to Buddhism, no matter what I believed in, I would somehow end up deconstructing it even if it was not my intention.

I envy those that have faith in SOMETHING more than the subjective reality that we experience from day to day.

I want to believe in something, but I can't. Any belief or idea that try to incorporate into my being is eventually rejected and I'm left with just emptiness.

Can anyone relate?

Yes. At the same time, I'm grateful not to subject myself to blind faith. A Catch 22, I guess.

Most people seem to operate on preconceived thoughts that have "personal significance", whereas I am different in this regard.

Less preconception makes me feel like I am more dynamically flexible in my thoughts, yet, as you mention, I seem to have a greatly diminished "personal significance" to information.

Last edited by LoveNotHate on 05 Jul 2014, 2:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

I found the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti useful in this regard. He invites people to question their beliefs. Not just those of a religious nature but ALL beliefs and to examine where they come from. Many of our beliefs are ones we've adopted from our peers, parents or our particular society; and many of them are founded on misconceptions or simply "because it's always been that way". Why have ANY beliefs? When you have beliefs you try to live through those beliefs, i.e. you live a second hand life. Better to meet life head on, free of beliefs and live each moment freely, openly, without prejudice and to the full.

Or so you believe.

Unquestioned beliefs get in the way of seeing and acting. When you act according to a belief it is not you acting, it is your conditioning. The first step is seeing what beliefs each of us carry around, where they come from and how valid they are. It is surprising the number of people who unquestioningly carry around the religious beliefs of their parents (Muslim, Christian etc); passing on the same beliefs to each generation; each believing theirs is the one true religion.

What about acting without questioning the greatest belief there is: I Am?

There is no "I". Upon observing the mental activity within this so called mind, it is all smoke and mirrors. There are learned behaviours and instinctive responses but there are done by no-one. People construct a life story and believe there is a constant "I" that experiences everything; yet this individual can never be pinned down when looked for. People construct complex structures they call "I". I am "a doctor" I am "a drug addict" I am a "father". All these are just attributes. Just as people are not their clothes, they are not their jobs or not their relationship to other people.

As you say, "I am" is the greatest belief of them all, and so few question this or look deeply into the belief.

My point was that it is not possible to be free of beliefs. Even if you believe you are.
wink wink see what I did there?

Of course it isn't possible to be free of beliefs. The things is, most people don't even question the beliefs they've assimilated since childhood even if those beliefs have a major impact on their lives. People, parents, society and peers push their beliefs onto us all the time; from the moment we are capable of understanding language as small children and we just soak it up. Often, long engrained beliefs have no basis in reality and realising this allows the belief system to drop.