Belief is a superficial acceptance of something as true, whether or not it really is true. Belief is a construct of the mind, not a direct observation or experience of truth. As such, it is intrinsically false.
Belief is an innovation of the mind, useful in the right framework. For example, the scientific method involves forming a hypothesis, which is a tentative acceptance of something as true — in other words, a belief — in order to test it through experiment and inquiry. Belief is also the same mechanism which allows us to imagine things that don’t exist, and consequently lets us solve problems, invent new technologies, and make progress. Belief as a tool is indispensable. The problem arises when we don’t realize that a belief is a belief, and thereby make it a permanent part of our identity.
Unfortunately, our minds are full of such unconscious beliefs, and the most difficult thing in the world is to accept that something you thought to be true might be just a belief, and could be false. Even if what you believe is actually true, the belief is an obstacle that blocks the authentic experience of that truth. The belief is just the mind’s copy of the real thing.
Authentic experience of truth requires abandoning belief altogether. Truth can only be experienced, never believed. All beliefs are false by definition. Someone else’s experience of truth can never become your own experience of it; you can never borrow someone else’s truth. This is the fatal flaw of all religions which encourage belief over individual inquiry and meditation, and of all science education and communication which don’t emphasize the methodology and inquiry behind scientific discoveries.
Truth is already there, it is in the nature of existence, and it requires no effort on your part to exist. It doesn’t have to be attained or created. Let go of belief and you can instantly see and experience truth for yourself.
There are two ways to dismantle belief. The easier way is to just discern a belief as a belief, express it clearly to yourself in full language sentences, and then simply allow it as it is, consciously. Trust it and accept it, while clearly knowing that it is a belief. You can write it down if it helps to clearly express it. This allowing and trusting awareness will create a separation between you and the belief, and will melt the belief’s grip on you. Then the belief dissipates on its own, getting no fuel of attachment from you.
Another way to detach from a belief is to question it, doubt it, inquire about it. This can be difficult in the beginning because you are challenging yourself against what you believe to be true. The belief disguises itself as knowledge. Inquiry clears the fog of belief, and what is left behind is the truth. Be persistent and don’t stop questioning until you reach clarity. With this path though, the risk is that you get caught up in thoughts and philosophizing rather than meditative inquiry.
The most crippling beliefs are the ones we hold about ourselves. These are the ones that infringe the most on our freedom, and these are the first ones to work on with this method. Our whole identity is composed of individual beliefs.
- I need to become something.
- I need to accomplish X, Y, and Z.
- I am better than / worse than this person.
- I need to make this person / group like me.
- Once I do A, or have B, I will be happy.
- There is something wrong with me.
- There is nothing wrong with me. I am perfect, blameless.
- I am not good enough, not worthy, a loser, a failure.
- I am good enough, I am worthy, a winner, successful.
Note that even a positive thought such as, “I am good enough and I deserve to be happy”, can be a belief. You neither deserve happiness nor unhappiness. You just are what you are in each moment, there is nothing that is deserved or undeserved, only the experience of the present, of being. But the belief prevents this experience.
It doesn’t matter whether what you believe is true or not, only that it is a belief. In fact most beliefs that bind you are actually true, but their quality of truth has been lost by your degradation of them into beliefs.
Identify each of these beliefs and, through awareness, let them be dissolved. Many will be core beliefs about life, work, relationships, existence, meaning, and religion, which have been hindering and binding you your whole life, and abandoning these will be tremendously, blissfully freeing. There could also be a phase of difficulty, discomfort, or even existential crisis, as fundamental things you thought true are revealed to be false. If at this time, you lean back onto the crutches of belief, you will fall back into the old suffering. If instead you keep going, stand up courageously on your own without any crutch, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It is possible, and many have done it before.
Eventually, as belief dissolves, there will be a tremendous sense of blissful relief, a great burden being lifted. All the beliefs were weighing you down, and once you drop them, you feel light and free. Finally, with all beliefs abandoned, the whole identity of the self will have been dismantled, and there is just a pure, silent, meditative awareness of truth.