The Budhha by rahlducca
Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense – Buddha
I’m sure we have all experienced a shift in our opinions about some things over time. But this quote is a real challenge to check on what you consider to be self evident truths (and I’m not going to get into a post constructionist debate about the nature of truth… well not now anyway).
When you hold something to be a self evident truth then the reality is that you are unlikely to be open to anyone challenging the validity of that “truth” and there is a very good chance that the “truth” comes from some form of dogma. How much trouble is there in the world at the moment because of a rigid adherence to a self evident truths, and rigidity of “beliefs”?
Why do I love todays opening quote?
Rather than being told it is this way, and only this way here is a teacher who challenges you to think about what he says and challenges you to examine it in the context of your own life. How many teachers or systems do you know like this? Not many I bet.
In the post who are you? I dabbled with this question previously by providing a quote from Oscar Wilde and discussing what other peoples beliefs and opinions do to you without examination.
How long can something be self evident for?
Beliefs can be held to be self evident for a very long time………
Want some perfect examples…..
for how long did people “believe” that the earth was flat?
for how long did people “believe” that the universe revolved around the earth?
what about some more recent examples…
in medicine…. how long did people deny that stomach ulcers were caused by a bacteria?
in space exploration….for how long have people believed that there was no water on the moon?
What do you “believe” to be true?
The only firm opinion that I hold (based on my experience to date) is to use another quote “that the greater the circle of my knowledge, the greater the circumference of my ignorance”. WHAT? Let me explain.
The more that I learn in life about anything and everything the more I realise simply how much I do not know, and in reality can probably never know.
So I work on maintaining an open mind, I’m prepared to look at any and all evidence in relation everything in my life, I will form an opinion based on (as much or as little of) the evidence that I can access, and work hard to remember that the opinion (or belief if want to put it that way) is limited by a multitude of factors and should remain open to change based on interaction with new evidence as it emerges.
What Beliefs have you or are you willing to challenge?
I’d love to know what things in life have facilitated a change in your “beliefs”…… I’d love to know how they changed and what it meant to you………so lets discuss it below in the comments.
[...] Belief means many things to many people. To some people it means their theological beliefs, most of which are some form of homage to an external deity, to others it means their self belief or ego. There have been challenges on this site before about examining our beliefs. [...]
Thanks Eric,
I think its healthy to have the discussion about what you believe… but also just as important to keep your mind open and being willing to change your belief based on new and emerging evidence, whilst always attempting to avoid dogma.
Thanks for the comments.
I see your point here. I have learned that having an open mind and seeing a bigger picture really cuts into what people would say to me. If they said something I have no problem looking at them and going, riiiight. If they really care enough about what they said to keep a conversation going and “prove” their point to me they’d do everything but shut up.
They almost always shut up.
It’s not about being right though. It’s about what one truly believes is to be true. If they truly believed it and still do, great. They obviously weren’t trying to convince me to believe in it because they didn’t do anything about my reaction to what they said.
Good article here. I love reading about this stuff.
Keep at it!
The problem isn’t belief so much as certainty.
There are many things that I believe in, but I may not believe in them very strongly… and I revise my belief in them regularly. Without some measure of belief, you can’t function.
If you are interested in this, you should read up on coherence theories of epistemology. A good introduction is at: http://bearspace.baylor.edu/Jonathan_Kvanvig/www/pdf/Coherentismcullisonvolume.pdf
Thanks Stuart, I’ll have a look at the link.
I used to believe in the zombie baby Jesus.
All joking aside, I try to keep an open mind and a closed mouth. That second one is not working out so much and I like it that way.
I used to believe that what other people thought mattered, now I know they are mostly full of shit.
Mepsipax, I like the concept of open mind closed mouth, but given that I’ve just put it out there I guess I’m also failing in the second one.