“People believe in so many lies.
Some of these lies are so subtle and convincing that we build our entire virtual reality upon them without even noticing that they are lies. The lies we believe about ourselves can be difficult to detect, because we are so used to them that they seem normal.
For example, if you believe the widespread lie ‘I am not worthy,’ that lie lives in your mind because you believe in it. You do not believe people when they tell you how wonderful you are, because you are convinced of the opposite. Your faith is already invested in the belief that this is not true; it is a lie, but belief directs your actions. When you do not see yourself as worthy, how do you present yourself to others? You feel insecure. How could you ask for anything when you do not believe you deserve it? You project onto others your own image of yourself, and that is what others believe about you. And, of course, they treat you accordingly, which only reinforces your belief that you are not worthy. And what is the truth?
The truth is that you are worthy; everyone is worthy.
If you believe the lie that you cannot speak in public, then it will be so according to your belief: when you try to speak in public, you will feel fear. The only way to change your belief in this agreement is to take action and do it. Then you will prove that it is a lie, and you will stop being afraid.
If you believe that you cannot have a loving relationship, it will be so according to your belief. If you think you do not deserve love, even when love is in front of you, you will simply not accept it, because you are blind to it. You see only what you want to see and hear only what you want to hear. Everything you perceive becomes additional support for your lies.
If you understand these examples, you can imagine how many lies you believe about yourself, and how many lies you believe about your parents, your children, your brothers, sisters, and your partner. Every time you judge them, you are expressing the false beliefs in your personal Tree of Knowledge. You give power to these lies—and what is the result? Anger, jealousy, even hatred. Then you accumulate emotional poison, and at some point you say something you do not want to say.
Do you see the charge in what I am sharing with you? You can change your life by refusing to believe your own lies. Start with the main lies that stand in the way of your happiness and love. If you stop believing in them, they lose their power over you. Then you reclaim your faith in order to invest it in other beliefs. If you stop believing in lies, everything in your life will magically change.”
Don Miguel Ruiz, The Voice of Knowledge
This is how Don Miguel Ruiz presents his interpretation of the Christian message that it shall be according to your faith. According to him, it is enough to look at the life we are currently living in order to see what our faith truly is. The essential question is: if we do not like what we see, how can we change our faith?
This is where the difficult part begins. We often fail in our faith because of unconscious beliefs that invest emotional energy in convictions that are opposed to our conscious intentions. Don Miguel calls them by different names—lies, the Parasite in our minds, the Prince of Lies living in the Tree of Knowledge, the Voice of Knowledge.
“Faith is a force that comes from our wholeness. It is an expression of our true essence. Faith is our creative power, because through it we create the story of our life and transform it. Different traditions have called this faith by different names. The Toltecs call it intent, but I prefer to call it faith.”
Don Miguel Ruiz
This is the key: faith ‘works’ only when it is whole. What undermines its wholeness is the presence of unconscious beliefs within us that oppose what we consciously think we believe. The way to understand these hidden saboteurs is to discover the words we believe—the inner voices that speak against us.
“Let us try to understand why faith is so important. When we speak of faith or of intent, we are also speaking of the power of the word. The word is pure magic. This power comes directly from God and is guided by faith. We c ould say that everything in our virtual reality is created through the word, because through the word we write our story. Human beings possess a magnificent imagination. Beginning with words, we create language. Through language we try to make sense of every experience we have.”
Don Miguel Ruiz
For me, the most valuable insight here is the connection between faith and wholeness. But the only path to whole faith is first to become whole ourselves. This is the great challenge: the attainment of inner wholeness in all that it entails—the withdrawal of projections and the integration of the Shadow, of the inner parts rejected by our conscious attitude.
Before the wholeness of faith comes the union of the opposites within us.
After that, it becomes easy.
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
