Belief
Beliefs have become a source of pride in the life of the individual. Beliefs about how one ought to behave. Beliefs about the nature of human beings. Beliefs about personal identity.
Ask anyone you encounter about their beliefs, and they will be quick to tell you. For they are never without their beliefs.
No man truly walks into a room by himself. For he carries with him the conditioning he has been accumulating his entire life.
It is through the lens of this conditioning that a man tries to understand reality. Thus, his endeavor is doomed from the very beginning.
Where there is conditioning, there cannot be truth.
When one is tied to beliefs, he will naturally reject all that does not align with them. The conclusions one has made will determine the evidence one overlooks.
It is only in the absence of knowledge that one resorts to belief. When one knows, belief is not required.
Belief is itself a hindrance to finding truth. Because one believes, he stops searching.
When one arrives at a certain degree of wisdom, he grows wary of his own beliefs. He sees that they have brought him nothing of any real value. In fact, they have brought him disappointment when they come into conflict with reality.
Such a man begins to systematically remove all beliefs from his mind. But he does not “try” to remove his beliefs. The one who tries to remove his beliefs does so because he does not know whether or not they are true. It is an attempt to fight untruth with more untruth.
The wise man removes his beliefs by investigating whether or not they are true. He proceeds by way of understanding, rather than following rules.
It is in the realization that one’s beliefs are false that they begin to disappear. There is no other step to be taken. Investigation is all that need be done.
In the removal of beliefs, one removes the disappointments that come with them.
In the removal of beliefs, one begins to come into direct contact with reality.
In the removal of beliefs, one creates the space necessary for truth to enter.