Breaking through the Bubble of Belief

By George A. Boyd © 2016

Q: How would you break out of the bubble of belief to directly experience the Soul and God?

A: Belief in God appears to pass through seven stages:

  1. Initial belief (faith) – At this stage, believers affirm the existence of God based on convincing personal criteria.
  2. Relational belief – At this stage, they affirm that they are related to God, e.g., a child of God, a disciple of Christ or other spiritual Master.
  3. Doctrinal belief – At this stage, they construct a belief system about God, the creation of the Universe, and humanity’s relationship with the Divine based on the study of scripture and the teachings of clergy. These may include beliefs about what will happen in the future of mankind, what will happen after death, and what God requires of humanity.
  4. Moral belief – At this stage, they construct a set of standards and values based on interpretation of scriptures and teaching and inculcation of clergy to guide their personal behavior.
  5. Authoritarian belief – At this stage, they hold a conviction that the truths espoused in the scriptures and religious organization to which they belong are true for everyone, and must be implemented in the family, the workplace, and the society in which they live.
  6. Missionary belief – At this stage, they gain a conviction that they must being the message to others to save their Souls and guide them to the one true Path. They may engage in active proselytization or evangelism at this stage.
  7. Integrated belief – After many years of professing the belief system and practicing its tenets, these beliefs remake their personality, and dictate their behavior, their values, their world view, and their relationships with those who are in the religious group and those who outside of it.

There are three barriers to move out of the bubble of belief into direct experience.

  1. Existential terror – Believers fear that if their beliefs are abandoned, their life would have no meaning; they would lose their sense of identity; and they would have an infinite number of other options for choosing their life anew once they let go of the certainty of their safe harbor of belief.
  2. Ontological terror – They fear they will lose their soul; they will go to hell or transmigration after death; and they will risk the opprobrium or censure of their religious group for their apostasy.
  3. Psychological terror – They fear having to face the deep-seated anxiety, shame, self-hatred, or inner conflicts for which the religious belief system provided a solution, and insulated them from facing these dysphoric emotions.

Once believers face and work their existential fear, they discover the attentional principle, the principle of immortal consciousness.

Once they resolve their ontological terror, they encounter the Soul—the principle of immortal being—as it is.

Once they penetrate and release their psychological terror, they uncover their spiritual heart, the principle of immortal love.

These three immortal principles comprise the “third eye,” “brain,” and “heart” paths of spiritual development. Raja Yoga activates the third eye path. Transformational mantra unfolds the Soul upon the brain path. Nada Yoga awakens the spiritual heart and frees it to open the inner channels through which the spirit travels back to God. [We teach all three methods in our intermediate meditation classes, the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and on-line Accelerated Meditation Program.]

You can only consciously tread these three paths when you transcend the limitation of these environing structures of belief, which have their corresponding “eye,” “brain,” and “heart.”

The “eye” of belief is the perception that is created when belief filters reality. This must be transcended through awakening the third eye, the attentional principle.

The “brain” of belief constructs a theoretical story or rationale that explains human identity, the creation of the universe, and specifies how people should behave towards one another and the Divine. The here and now experience of eternity and the wordless presence of the Soul supplants this.

The “heart” of belief that imbues religious convictions with passion and urgency and that powerfully energizes the cord of faith must be relinquished to discover the pure and innocent spirit within.

Most never unlock this inner door that opens Pandora’s box—where they must face these three layers of terror—so they remain trapped in the prison of their beliefs. It is a telling observation that perhaps only one to three percent of those who are part of a religious belief system are able to move beyond it into direct experience.

Mudrashram® has its students directly move beyond belief into essence through directly focusing their attention on the three immortal essences—attentional principle, Soul, and spirit—and activating them. This enables them to have direct experience beyond the shell of belief. In time, they are able to dismantle those beliefs that are not founded on the bedrock of Core Realization, and that they cannot verify through direct experience.

Discovering God through direct experience means that these three immortal essences travel into the Presence of the Divine as It is, and know It directly. Mudrashram® gives the aspirant the keys to the direct experience of these immortal essences and the Divine when the core techniques of Integral meditation are practiced regularly and correctly.