PROCESS OF ILLUMINATION
"A life that is not examined,
is not worth living." - Socrates
If one can illuminate, or remove all the ignorance, or
pain, from ones beliefs, one is filled with, and aligned
with, truth. The Process of Illumination is the key to
improving or changing ones beliefs. If one can illuminate
just a single belief, one may illuminate all of ones
beliefs. For once one has found even a single fragment of
truth, it becomes a monocle through which one may see the
truth in all of ones other beliefs.
Every imperfect belief one holds to be true can either be
changed or improved. An imperfect belief is based upon
emotional observations which are in need of illumination.
Through the Process of Illumination, one removes all
painful associations, such as ignorance, fear, and doubt
which corrode ones beliefs. Through illumination, one can
purify ones beliefs by aligning them with the truth. By
testing ones beliefs with the fires of truth, one is able
to distill ones knowledge into beliefs which are pure and
true. When one purifies ones beliefs, one is finding and
filtering out misinformation so that all that is left is
truth. Ones beliefs become aligned with "God's
will" automatically as one becomes more godly. One
need only to get ones identity in truth to be changed by
the truth. Identity in truth aligns beliefs accordingly.
Identity in anything other than truth creates aberrations
in beliefs.
The Process of Illumination is to examine behaviors to
expose the corresponding, underlying belief. Error, or
painful observations, are then identified in the belief
through discrimination, dissemination, and comparison of
the belief with truth. A decision to change the pain one
uncovers is made. The pain in the belief is neutralized
by finding, understanding, and forgiving the
circumstances which caused it to be internalized. When
one understands what is right, one simply replaces the
pain with truth in the belief by making a new decision
based on the new understanding one has uncovered. One
affirms this new decision through use, automatically
creating a new belief. Repeating the entire Process of
Illumination on all areas of ones life, one becomes fully
illuminated in truth.
The Process of Illumination:
Examine behavior to find the underlying belief
V
Identify error in the belief
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Decide to change the belief
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Neutralize error by understanding the truth
V
Replace error by making a new decision regarding the old
belief
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Affirm the new decision
V
Repeat the process
EXAMINE BEHAVIOR TO FIND THE UNDERLYING BELIEF
The first step in becoming enlightened is to recognize
that one is not already enlightened. If one is not living
contently in bliss, joined with God, then one is not
enlightened. If one suffers from emotional pain and bad
habits then one is not enlightened. If one is not able to
achieve ones dreams and is unhappy, lazy, confused,
jealous, angry, or fearful, one is not enlightened. The
enlightened are at peace with all things and are busy
loving God, enjoying life, and helping others.
One may be in denial that anything is wrong with ones
life. Emotional observations, or error, obstruct the
knowledge that one is being or doing what is in vain. If
one is not doing good, then by default, one is doing
evil! Expose the error by examining what aberrant
behaviors one is exhibiting, and thus, what aberrant
beliefs one holds which are causing one to exhibit such
behaviors. If you are exhibiting a behavior you know is
wrong, start by asking yourself why you are doing it. If
you are failing to succeed, then there is a belief that
you hold inside yourself keeping you from succeeding.
Emotional pain is caused by feelings of failure one
acquires when attempting and failing to control ones
reality. Emotional pain, or error, has its roots in
associating pain into ones concepts when one is
observing. All aberrant beliefs contain painful
associations.
Search yourself deeply, are you the person you want to
be? What is stopping you from achieving your goals? Do
you have some hidden belief, or doubt, that you are not
good enough? What is holding you back from accepting the
joy of God available to you? How have you associated pain
with God?
When you illuminated all pain that you have associated
with God, then you will be enlightened. Start by finding
a problem area in your life to illuminate. If you have
difficulty working the Process of Illumination alone, get
a friend to help you. More than likely, they will learn a
few things about themselves. Talk to them about why you
do the things you do and what you believe.
One cannot illuminate all areas of ones life at once.
Identify a single problem area and then pick it apart,
and illuminate it a little at a time. Find an aberrant
behavior and trace it to it's underlying belief. This is
a belief you can start from. Just knowing something is
wrong is a good start to figuring out what is wrong.
Where the pain is, is where the problem is.
You may say, "Well if I knew my beliefs were wrong,
I wouldn't have them would I?" Don't kid yourself.
Knowing and believing are two different things. One may
know full well that something is wrong, but find oneself
doing it anyway. If you cannot expose pain, ignorance,
aberrance, or deviance in any of your beliefs, then just
go ahead and assume that a particular belief is wrong and
set about illuminating it. Testing a belief will either
reaffirm its truthfulness or expose the pain it contains.
All of ones beliefs contain traces of pain,
misinformation, and doubt which can be further
"purified". After all, while the truth is
perfect, we are not.
The things one doesn't like to talk about because they
are too painful are the very things one needs to talk
about. Pain is temporary. One can get rid of it by
illuminating it. One can retain a memory without
retaining the pain associated with it.
Trauma is loss of control, or having another's will
forced upon oneself. This results in painful observations
which in turn result in aberrant beliefs. Free oneself of
the emotional pain of past traumas by exposing the
painful observations made during ones traumas. Traumas
that are not worked out, are acted out.
Exposing a belief is like exposing film.
"Expose" and develop a "picture" of
ones behavior. Look at the "picture" and
identify what is going on in the picture.
IDENTIFY ERROR IN THE BELIEF
Once one has exposed a particular belief as being
aberrant, identify why one has this aberrant belief and
what is wrong with it. Question ones beliefs. A belief,
or conclusion, is like a law in ones mind saying,
"This is what's right!" But what if some of the
beliefs one has made are based on sensory receptions,
observations, patterns, associations, imaginings, or
premises which contain error? If any of the things that
make up a belief contain ignorance, pain, or error, then
the belief itself is aberrant.
When one makes ones mind up about something, one no
longer makes a new decision regarding it. When a decision
becomes "final" it is a belief. It is like a
computer program run again and again instead of making a
new decision.
Open and reevaluate your old decisions and check their
"programming" for "bugs". When one
finds error, or pain, in a belief, one need only make a
new decision. In order to run the "new computer
program", one needs to interrupt the old program.
Sadly, one may have knowledge of what's right, but finds
that one still doesn't do what's right. If one doesn't do
what one knows to be right, what good is ones knowledge?
Perhaps ones beliefs contain doubt. Doubt is a form of
emotional pain. Beliefs should not be based on emotion,
but on truth. Do not make decisions that are painful and
emotional. Such decisions result in emotional behavior as
a direct result of conflict in ones beliefs. Identify
anything which is keeping a belief from becoming
completely truthful. A belief aligned with truth is a
clean belief, free from the baggage of emotional pain.
Beliefs are thought patterns which if aberrant keep one
from being free of the consequences of such aberrance.
(i.e. error, anger, emotion, fear, hurt, ignorance,
doubt, guilt, pain, and desire) Until one identifies,
neutralizes, and replaces ones ignorant, aberrant, and
deviant beliefs, one will continue to suffer the
consequences they create usually exhibited in destructive
behavior. Aberrant beliefs beget aberrant behavior.
One begins forming beliefs at such a young age that they
become second nature and are difficult to change unless
the original associations are exposed and examined. One
does not automatically make a new decision every time one
gains new knowledge. It takes conscious effort to change
ones mind about something.
Not all observations and premises which make up a belief
are invalid. That's why one holds the belief! Even the
most aberrant of beliefs may contain some truth! Only
those observations or associations that contain error
need to be identified.
Think of a time when someone told you that you could not
do something. They may have simply said "No".
So many people believe the word "No" as soon as
it is spoken. They never doubt the authority of the one
who said it. One may often discover through illumination
that the word "No" means nothing at all. In
fact, "No" is the first two letters of
"Nothing" and "Not". Through
illumination one finds that one is keeping oneself down
by believing people who say "No." Do not allow
yourself to fail simply because someone said
"No" or "You can't do that."
Remember, one has not failed until one stops trying.
To identify error in a particular belief, think back to
the time you first remember having the belief. What was
the underlying decision one made? What led to the making
of this decision? Identify the original premises and
postulates of ones decision and examine their validity.
Are the sensory receptions and observations which make up
each premise or postulate true? What is the source of
these sensory receptions? Is the source pure and true for
each observation, premise, and association? Are the
premises free from ignorance? Was the decision in
question made to justify a hurt? Was this decision made
with all available data and knowledge regarding the
subject matter? Do any of the premises rely on the trust
of others for their validity? Was the decision made in
fear or under duress? Is one ready to make a new decision
regarding this belief? There are many ways that error may
find its way into a belief.
Suppose one cannot come up with any reason why one
believes what one believes. Suppose your mind is just
mysteriously blank. Perhaps thinking about a particular
decision one has made is too painful. In such a case, one
way to expose and identify the premises is to
"chase", or follow, ones thoughts regarding
such decision to their underlying fears. If one just
starts talking about a particular decision then seemingly
unrelated topics will pop up. If one talks about those
unrelated topics, they will lead further to others.
These seemingly unrelated topics one discusses are like
bread crumb trails which will eventually lead one to the
underlying pain, and thus original premises and
associations. The seemingly unrelated topics one
discusses are like veils of ignorance which have been put
in place to disguise the truth. Remove each veil, one by
one. Knowledge can be retrieved into ones conscious mind
using associations. The unrelated topics one discusses
are somehow associated to the knowledge one is actually
seeking.
Another error ones beliefs may contain is a contradiction
between two or more beliefs. Where there is
contradiction, there exists aberration. Two opposing
beliefs cannot both be right. Contradictory beliefs are a
cause of pain. Symptoms of such include doubt,
hesitation, emotionalism, and indecisiveness. When one
identifies the contradictions between ones beliefs, one
can free oneself of the conflict and tension which such
contradictions harbor. As contradictions are identified
and discarded, the pain harbored by invalid conclusions
is released as one finally faces the truth. "The
truth will set you free."
DECIDE TO CHANGE THE BELIEF
It is not enough to simply identify the aberrations in
ones beliefs. Exposing and identifying the error ones
beliefs contain does nothing to change them. One will
just know why one does the things one does. Make a
conscious decision that ones aberrant beliefs are not
acceptable. Just deciding not to act on ones beliefs does
not free one from their existence.
Often, people think that once they have become aware of
the evil they are doing that they will automatically stop
doing it, but this is not so. Ask any smoker if they know
that smoking is bad for them. Of course they know, but
knowing is not enough to end their smoking! Smokers
believe that the "pleasure" of smoking must
somehow outweigh the consequences or they would not
smoke. A smoker thinks that he or she is addicted to the
pleasure of smoking, but pleasure is based on desire, and
desire is pain. Ask oneself this question, "Is
smoking making one sick, or is there a sickness making
one smoke?" Both pleasure and pain are obstacles to
freedom from any wrong behavior.
To eliminate a behavior, eliminate the belief which
causes the behavior. Eliminate the aberrant belief
altogether- thereby doing away with both pleasure and
pain. To do this, align ones beliefs in truth. If one
wants to quit smoking, believe one has become a
non-smoker. The satisfaction of smoking ends in the
desire to smoke again. The pendulum swings from pleasure
to pain in a never ending cycle. Until one stops the
pendulum altogether, one will not find peace. Pleasure is
not the answer to pain, it is only temporary escape. Only
finding out what causes the pain, and illuminating it
will eliminate it. Make a new decision regarding ones
aberrant beliefs or one will continue to be a slave to
those beliefs.
Failing to make a new decision regarding ones old beliefs
when one knows better is like standing in the doorway of
freedom, but refusing to walk through the door. It is
like a prisoner refusing to leave his cell when the
chains and prison door have been unlocked. It is like
begging for what one already has. And it goes without
saying that if one stands in a doorway long enough, one
will eventually get hit by the door when it is closed.
NEUTRALIZE ERROR BY UNDERSTANDING TRUTH
I use the word "neutralize" rather than
"remove" because until one makes a new decision
regarding an aberrant belief, the "error", or
painful and emotional associations, such belief contains
have not gone away. One needs to shed light on ones
painful observations. Truth neutralizes emotion.
If one thinks of a belief as a computer program, then
what one wants to do is interrupt ones faulty program by
introducing the missing accurate data. The more accurate,
truthful data one observes, the more it interrupts ones
faulty program and the harder it is to keep rerunning
ones faulty program.
Your mind is like a computer which is programmed based on
the sensory data that you receive. To a large extent, you
are in charge of your own programming. You have control
over much of your sensory reception. You have the
opportunity to move about within your environment, to
steer clear from evil, and to educate yourself in truth.
However, traumas are programming that others have forced
upon one against ones will. Understand ones traumas, how
they happened, and why they happened. By understanding,
and forgiving oneself and others for ones traumas, one is
able to purge oneself of erroneous programming.
It's easy to know what is right, but difficult to believe
it and even harder to do it! Stop avoiding truth. One has
the accurate knowledge to make successful changes. Remove
the procrastination and doubt which corrode ones beliefs.
Neutralize those doubts which are keeping one from
believing and doing what one knows to be true. Examine
how it is that one has acquired doubts and discard the
pain from such observations.
If one doesn't want to change ones aberrant beliefs, then
one won't. How can one free oneself from pain if one is
enjoying pain so much? Let go of the pain and hesitation
which doubt creates. Think about all the benefits of
changing, or aligning ones beliefs with truth. Think of
the joy and precision of a "well oiled" mind:
quick, alert, confident, and successful.
In order to neutralize an aberrant belief, find and
understand the truth regarding such belief. Prove in ones
own mind that there is room for improvement. Aligning
ones beliefs in truth is a movement towards peace and
joy. An accurate, valid, truthful belief is a decision
which is true. An accurate, valid, truthful decision is
built from accurate, valid, truthful premises,
observations, and associations. Check the validity of the
knowledge one has gathered to see if it is true. It may
be that one has never received truthful information in
the first place! One can neutralize ones ignorant beliefs
by making new observations regarding the truth. Overall,
the more truthful knowledge one gathers, the easier it is
to make a new more truthful decision.
Often, the true belief is the opposite of the aberrant
belief. If ones belief is "X", then the
opposite belief is "Non-X". For example, if one
finds that he or she is harming someone in some way, he
or she should concentrate on non-harm, or harmlessness.
Harming oneself or being hurt by someone is not the
opposite of harming someone. By concentrating on truth,
one is automatically making new, more truthful
observations.
Why is the more truthful belief true? And why is it that
one may believe otherwise? Simply concentrating on what
is right does not explain why it is right. Discover why
one doesn't believe the truth. One may discover that
often people equate the truth with weakness. For example,
the association of harmlessness with weakness is a common
mistake. To harm others is the real weakness.
Thinking about why the opposite belief of an aberrant
belief is true will enable one to illuminate and
neutralize the ignorance of ones false beliefs. This type
of neutralization which focuses on general ideas of truth
and accuracy rips at the foundations of ignorant beliefs.
Another method of neutralization involves focusing on
aberrant beliefs which cling to truthful beliefs.
Identify these contradictions. Trying to believe
contradictory beliefs is a source of conflict and error.
Focus on which belief is right, good, and true, and
reject the others. For example, if one believes
"Yes, harming another is wrong, except in the case
of (blank)", then analyze each exception one has
made to see if it is valid. Exceptions are often excuses.
An exception such as "Harming another is wrong
except if someone makes me angry" begs the question,
"What makes you angry and why?" This should
expose a contradiction like "I get angry when I hear
the truth about...". Harming someone when one hears
the truth is clearly wrong, and so this belief should
drop away. The idea of this technique is to examine the
exceptions and amendments in which aberrant beliefs cling
on to truthful beliefs and then to neutralize them. In
reality, there are no valid excuses for continuing to
believe, and thus live, in error.
A core belief is a belief from which other beliefs are
based and rely on as being true. If a core belief
contains error, then all beliefs based on that belief
will contain error. Until one illuminates an aberrant
core belief, one will not be able to illuminate a belief
which depends upon that core belief. After all, why
bother rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic when
the problem is being on the Titanic itself?
Aberrant beliefs regarding fears, or "phobias",
can be neutralized through the process of desensitization
in which the fear is faced head on. For example if one is
afraid of heights, confront this fear gradually by
exposing oneself to heights. Face ones fear and learn the
truth. Eventually, ones fears are overcome as it is
discovered they are unwarranted. The fear will go away as
one begins to realize one is safe even in high places. In
other words, one would begin to make more and more
truthful observations and ultimately, one would make a
new more truthful decision. One is in fact affirming the
right behavior without believing it until one eventually
makes a new decision. This is working the last part of
the Process of Illumination in reverse. Affirming right
behaviors before one has the truthful belief often
results in creating the truthful belief. To affirm is to
decide or to have already decided. Affirming truth will
prove its truthfulness. There is an entire affirmation
movement which basically is preaching the simple truth
that as one believes, often so shall it be. This is how
faith works.
Painful expectations are another cause of failure and
doubt which corrodes beliefs. Only God knows the future.
Those who are sure that trying leads to failure have
already failed. Let go of the fear of success and go for
it! Let go of the horrible associations one has made
regarding risk-taking and trust in God. Going for it is
the only way to succeed. Trust God and pursue your
dreams. You will always have the Lord to fall back upon
should the world be pulled out from under your feet. Let
go, and let God. Let God be your strength and your safety
net.
REPLACE ERROR BY MAKING A NEW DECISION REGARDING THE OLD
BELIEF
By now, one already understands how it is that one
acquired the painful observations which are a part of
ones aberrant belief. Replace the error and make a new
decision regarding ones aberrant belief. Exchange the
pain of ones observations with the forgiveness and
understanding that the truth reveals regarding such pain.
Let go of the pain and fill oneself instead with love.
Let go of the aberration by rejecting it as being valid.
When one has neutralized error in ones belief, ones mind
is fertile for change. Plant the seed of truth. Make a
new decision. Swap the painful observations one holds
with the peaceful observations and in so doing, replace,
once and for all, the aberrant belief with the truth.
This releases one from the pain one was harboring inside
oneself.
Failure to replace the aberrant decision with the truth
at this point could actually be very dangerous. Now that
one has "cleaned house", fill it with goodness
or even worse "demons" will move in.
Say to oneself "I believe now that my previous
decision was not right, I am making my mind up about this
and am going to do what's right." Resolve or
"re-solve" this issue once and for all. In our
example of harmlessness, one would say "I no longer
harm others, harming others harms myself, harmlessness is
not weakness it is power. There was an incorrect reason
why I wanted to harm. I ignorantly thought harm would
accomplish something, but it is only an obstacle to the
truth. I now know better. If I harm someone who makes me
angry it is wrong because I know I get angry when I hear
the truth and I should face the pain I am harboring and
let it go."
Some people are just too lazy to make new decisions. The
use of an "ultimatum" will reduce the
dissonance between knowledge and belief by forcing a new
decision. Ultimatums put someone in a position where they
have "no choice" but to overcome their fears,
doubts, and laziness and make a new decision. For
example, if someone was afraid of heights, but saw a
toddler in danger of walking off a rooftop, chances are
they would "rise to the occasion" and overcome
their fear of heights to save the child.
It can be difficult to swallow the antidote when
everything one has ever swallowed before was poison.
However, what good is the antidote in your mouth if you
will not swallow it down? Swallow or die! It's up to you.
The courage to walk through the door of freedom is
directly proportional to walking through the door.
Ironically, the courage to believe itself lies on the
other side of the door of belief.
AFFIRM THE NEW DECISION
Remember the first time you jumped off the high dive? You
might have only started up the high dive ladder just a
few steps. Perhaps you took a few more and then were
ready to "chicken out". Suddenly, you found you
could not back down the ladder because someone else was
ready to come up it! You were scared, unsure, but you
made your mind up, walked nervously to the edge and
jumped. Splash! You did it! And it was fun! When you
discovered your fears were unwarranted, you smiled,
jumped out of the pool, and ran back up the ladder. This
is what affirming a decision does for you. It gives you
confidence and creates a belief. It replaces fear with
joy. You no longer know you can do it, you believe it,
and do it!
Affirm ones decisions through use. Affirmation makes a
decision a belief. Choosing to act on a truthful belief
will result in right behavior because only right behavior
can come from a truthful belief. Affirmation is like
testing ones new decision to see if it has become a
belief. If there is still doubt or misinformation in ones
new decision, it will continue to result in aberrant
behavior. If this is the case, go back a step or two and
fine tune ones new decision.
REPEAT THE PROCESS
Repeat the Process of Illumination over and over again
until all of ones aberrant beliefs have been illuminated.
Clear the clouds of ignorance and ready oneself to
receive the Ultimate Truth. It may appear to yourself as
though you are not progressing, however, the illumination
of one area invariably brings realization that another
area is in need of illumination. Pray to God that God may
continue to sanctify you in truth.
ILLUMINATION OF OTHER BELIEFS
Once free from the cycle of pain and pleasure of an
aberrant belief, how wrong that aberrant belief seems.
One says, "I can't believe that was me!" or
"I can't believe I used to do that!".
Illuminating beliefs about ones non-religious behaviors
is not much different from psychoanalysis. It is the
illumination of ones beliefs and ideas regarding God and
reality that separates spiritual life from psychology and
leads one to enlightenment. When you are done
illuminating your non-religious beliefs, illuminate your
religious beliefs. Some of your religious beliefs may be
aberrant, whilst others, through illumination, you may be
surprised to find are quite correct. The goal here is to
find out what it is that you actually believe. There is
no room to be "wishy-washy" regarding your
spiritual beliefs.
