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Nery Alexis Gaitan
These two terms, belief and faith, are generally taken as synonyms, but they are not really the same and differ in that the first are only ideas and the second is the way of verifying what is real. It should be clarified that “faith” is not a term exclusive to the religious sphere; it also applies rigorously to scientific knowledge that tries to discover the cause of everything. Let’s see about it:
Every human being has a body of beliefs that has been instilled in him from his first years of life. These beliefs are a product of the society in which he lives and is subject to customs, family, political, economic, religious, study, work interests, etc.
Thus, the vision that is conceived of the world is a faithful reflection of the beliefs that are held. And they guide the individual to act in a certain way before all the circumstances of life. Belief can be defined as “firm assent and agreement with something”. Beliefs are contained in the Intellectual Center, which is where all ideas, concepts, preconceptions, theories and opinions are stored.
So, beliefs are only elemental information that the intellect processes. This means that beliefs are generally not supported by experience. They are only labels that label phenomena and experiences. To this we must add that beliefs are limited, firstly, because the individual handles little information; and, secondly, because of the prejudices and conditioning to which he is a slave.
The terrible thing about beliefs is that the individual, according to his conditioning, thus understands the phenomena of nature, of life, of spirituality. This is because beliefs are far from understanding reality. For example, in spirituality they state that knowing God is impossible and that all the mysteries of the beyond can never be explored. But what about those who consciously establish relationships with the guardian angel, with archangels and other divine beings? Obviously, beliefs make us incapable of understanding the truth and have limited the mind to inquire further, which is where the causes of everything that exists generally lie.
It is necessary to reflect that belief and reality are not the same. Reality is what it is, period. Although the concept is correct, it does not reflect the essence of reality because we do not fully understand it. Deprogramming the mind from the conditioning caused by beliefs is urgent, because they are limited and prevent broadening the vision one has about life in general.
It can be indicated that the belief, the concept, the opinion, is only information accumulated in the mind. While reality transcends the label that is imposed on it. The interesting thing begins when it is experienced and that experience supports the concept or opinion.
Investigating without prior conditioning, without prejudice, is fascinating and what is required to approach the truth of everything that is and exists. Going beyond the mental programming that has been suffered throughout life is essential to broaden the vision of the world and thus be able to get closer to glimpse the great enigmas of existence. It is urgent to change the way of thinking, so that a greater degree of understanding is possible.
The human being is so programmed and conditioned that he is unable to separate himself from the ideas that have always been wrongly embedded in him (parents, teachers, the pastor…) and he fights for the supremacy of his concepts.
The discussions are always that, a fight of concepts and opinions: mine against yours. We forget that “the opium of theories is more bitter than death.” And the real, the true, is beyond the concepts or the conditioning of the mind. But the beliefs have placed a bandage on the understanding and the understanding of the real.