The foundation for belief, in this world, is socialization. We believe what we are told. The advertising industry spends billions of dollars a year to attract our attention, tell us what to believe, and, ultimately, control how we behave.

Although we don’t arrive in this world with a blank mental slate, we are nonetheless most influenced in childhood by the rules and judgments presented to us from primary parental figures, authority figures, and peer role models.

Science, with its focus on material proof, has reigned as a standard for believability for a couple of centuries. However, our current modern world is relativizing this standard of truth, with its emphasis upon the dominant role of suggestion in generating belief.

The power to control the narrative, the words used to describe current world challenges or opinions, is everywhere evident. A statement made on X results in a major loss of revenue, as advertisers run for the hills. Books are banned that suggest values or beliefs one disagrees with. I am not making a First Amendment pitch for free speech, but rather giving a neutral acknowledgment of the power of speech upon belief.

Carlos Castaneda emphasized the power of socialization, above all else, to fixate our belief system—and, hence, the world we generate—through shared beliefs with others. Our current world crises reflect a critical breakdown of a coherent belief system. The real current World War is a war of competing beliefs. Beliefs are indeed the deadliest of weapons.

Beliefs are magical spells. Shamans teach that, at a subconscious level, we incessantly repeat internalized beliefs. They call this the internal dialogue that constantly judges everything, most especially the self. The internal dialogue repeats the slogans from our internal advertising agency, which in turn generates our personal truths and how we see the world.

The shamans are consistent with most spiritual practices that encourage arriving at inner silence to suspend the power of fixated beliefs that color our view of ourselves, and the world. From the vantage point of inner silence, we see the relativity and power of belief.

However, as venerable as silence is to spiritual advancement it is not necessary to advance your beliefs. You needn’t even believe in a belief to materialize it. The only requirement is to attract the subconscious mind to a suggestion, even if you don’t consciously believe it. Repeat the suggestion incessantly, like a well-funded advertising campaign. Eventually the subconscious will be influenced and change your world.

Of course, if your suggestion is denying something, like a truth you are uncomfortable to face, though you will experience a shift eventually, you will also generate a latent karma. Karma is merely the outcome of our choices. If we choose to generate an untruth, the effects of that untruth will generate their own suggestions, which will impact the course of our future life. That’s nature’s basic law of balance.

So, what’s best to believe?

Suggestions that promote spiritual advancement experience the karma of fulfillment. We learn how to believe through rote repetition of beliefs that then manifest. As they manifest, even the Doubting Thomas conscious mind gains faith and believes in the power of the subconscious mind to change the world, within and without.

Own your belief,
Chuck