Reference: “All It Is” Chapter 11: “Belief System”
Friday, January 6
Walton: Good morning David. Today is a major day in our studies. We are still looking for simplicity in everything we discuss. Near the beginning of our study, you were asked to come up with questions or statements that addressed the simplest aspects of each topic. However, we are about to cover what is probably the most complicated of the three human systems.
David: No problem! Great topic for a Friday. End of the week. Two days off to rest and relax. No work, no worries! Just wine and dine time! Keeping life as simple as possible for such a geek as myself!
Walton: Ahem. You must have mistaken this place, this time, and this person as a normal part of your existence. Sorry to pop your champagne bubbles, but there is no “weekend” around here. Every day matters, you matter, the things we study matter, and it would be like the Universe taking a day off – major cosmic explosion!! No matter left to matter!
David: Pardonez mois, mi signore! Please continue your tortuous yet exquisite Inquisition, Friar Torquemada!
Walton: Pardon granted, my very young and sometimes impertinent chela! So, first, a quick summary of what we have covered so far: even before we were born, there was an Awareness System that directed energy into a specific collection that then formed into a potential human being. Then that now-individuated potential created a physical shell which we called The Sensory System, designed to move around the planet, and to fulfill the primary objective of experiencing as much as we could possibly experience. However, after that stage of cosmic being-ness, the third system, the Belief System, came along and slowly began to take over the whole lifetime, the whole earthly incarnation!
David: And if I remember right, this third system is what you abbreviatedly called our BS. Correct?
Walton: Unfortunately, you are correct. The human Belief System could act as a very useful supplemental energy system to guide the Awareness and the Sensory System through a fascinating series of lifetime events. But perhaps because of the nature of the planet Earth, or because of the selfish nature of most of the earthlings already living on that planet, the Belief System became the ruler of all! The energy sucker of everything that we encountered. A truly self centered organism. It has truly earned the crudely-monikered label, “BS.”
David: I noticed that, at the beginning of the PTP page covering Belief Systems, you decided to play a little game called “endless synonyms.” You started with the word “beliefs”, and then listed many, many other terms that are simply substitute labels for the exact same thing, beliefs. Over 70 terms, I estimate.
Walton : I placed that list up near the beginning of the chapter to let a reader know that we are truly indeed dealing with one hell of an immensely large and potentially overpowering system of energy with the Belief System. Cleverly concocted synonyms for this structure won’t evade its real identity. I challenge you to challenge that list, to find a label that does NOT merely describe another label for, or category of, beliefs.
David: How about words like measurements, logic, and maybe formulas? As you are so often prone to remind me, in order to be something other than a belief it must be measurable and observable and pretty much recognized as the same thing by everyone. Something Concrete, and not just a Concept. Measurements do that, don’t they?
Walton: Can you list some measurements for me that are something other than numbers? Because, you must remember, our numbering system and our alphabet system and our labeling systems once upon a time did not exist! Some group of confused humans got together and created these systems from scratch, simply for the purpose of being able to communicate some category of information to someone else. The base 10 numbering system could have been base 12 or base 8 or base 17, dependent solely on how many fingers or toes the initial human mathematicians possessed! Humans created temporary systems based on some need for a convenient and consistent sharing of data. The numbers and letters themselves were not an actual thing until a human chose to create them to be a thing , and then shared that thing with others, who no doubt responded with some clever variation of the phrase: “Cool idea, Bud! Can I borrow that from ya?””!
David: I am predicting, for the sake of brevity and maintaining my self-esteem level, that any of those words that I throw at you are going to have a similar origin: humans made them up, shared them with others, and therefore they became allegedly real things.
Walton: Welcome to the wonderful world of words. Speaking of which, ALL WORDS ARE BELIEFS TOO!! Play with that one and tell me what you think! Or don’t think. Limited, unmeasurable, conceptual, non-absolute collections of letters which one day did NOT exist, and then the next day, they did. In many, many collections called “Languages”! No absolute truths there, sorry to say.
David: Then I should try to challenge you with this observation: why in the world are we spending all these days throwing belief words back and forth at each other? What is the purpose of it all if none of it is an Absolute Truth?
Walton: I was hoping that you would eventually get to that question! And the unfortunate answer is this: until we all become imbued with psychic mind reading powers and an extremely heightened sense of Awareness of the world’s energies, “Awake and Aware,” we must “suffer” the use of these lowly and limited symbols in order to share our thoughts and feelings and energies with one another. Hopefully the day will come when you and I and many others have reached an aware unlimited state where these small word creatures no longer need to crawl into our ears and then back out of our mouths! Like baby buggy brainworms! “Brain-words”!
For now, we keep playing the word game, until it becomes no longer necessary to use these highly limiting erratic letter formations! A wordless world would be a highly Aware, Awake, and much quieter place to conduct our Sensory Activities!!
David: Mind-blowing indeed. I may need to take a moment to Grok this!
Walton: Good word! Grokking is also like the Jedi activity of energy flowing within a universal force, freely and without human limitations! Psychics and energy healers do it all the time!
Remember when we recently used the computer metaphor, with it’s Data In, Data Processed, and then Data Out procedure?
In this case, the “Data In” is the world of sensory input, the universe of Stimuli that we can see, hear, smell, taste and touch. We use the simple symbol “S” to represent that Stimuli.
Next, the physical sense-based human body measures the nature of the energetic wavelength and amplitude that it has “sensed.” A “sensory signal.” The resulting Sensation emerging from that sensory event. This is the processing stage, and I use the symbol “&” to represent that Processing, that degree of Sensation.
Finally, based on the quality and quantity of that energetic signal, the physical body, in its simplistic attempt to not die, or be destroyed or have its basic tissues ruined, a “Data Out” Response is initiated. The symbol “R” stands for that determined Response.
David: How does the body, or the Belief System, figure out what response to use in each case?
Walton: Very astute question, but a more detailed answer to that question will be covered when we get to the PTP Chapter on the “3 Primary Energy Motivators” behind absolutely all human actions and interactions..
David: So that is all there is, the whole descriptor of a Belief? You even use the term “Belief Unit” and the formula “{S & R}.”
Walton: Yes, and wonderfully noticed and comprehended. I take it you have heard of the Binary Language used by computers, and the composition of all machine and programming languages used by the Central Processing Unit on the motherboard of a computer.
David: Yes. Ones and Zeroes. Nothing more. It is all Ones (or the presence of a certain degree of voltage), or a Zero (meaning the absence of any such voltage). On or Off, That is “all it is”, all that computer programming is made of: On or Off, Ones or Zeroes.
Walton: Good summary. And the “formula” of “S & R” does the same thing for the human machine. Or, might I suggest, the Human Animal? The Trance-Ant, not yet becoming Awakened or Aware.
David: I am a bit overwhelmed, and also underwhelmed at the moment! Are we all really that simply made? All earthly life is like Binary code? On and Off. Stimulus and Response?
Walton: Don’t forget the ever-important “Sensation” that acts as the real, and very important, glue that connects the “S” to the “R”. But now we are getting into the very specific nature of how we create and store what we lazily call “thoughts” and “memories.” All the terms on that “Synonyms” list you noticed, all are merely based on “S & R’s.”
For a moment, scan down the page to that pyramid-like chart that starts with a single large font “Belief Unit” at the top of it. Then notice how each “secondary belief” is simply a collection of one or more Primary Beliefs. And then Belief Clusters continue to expand ad infinitum!
David: This is what we all are? This pyramid of stored programmed events, sensations, and our reaction to them? Once again, “Turtles all the way down???”
Walton: Bazinga and Bingo! And with that new and wonderful revelation in mind , we are going to take a quick break and walk back over to our favorite pizza-eating establishment. We will continue to take our latest explanation and connect it to a previous conversation about people and their choices and everything else that defines them as shining happy people in a pizza joint!
David: I can dig that, and I can also dig into one of those many-topping whoppers!
{The two of them close up the church, and quietly head over to Angelo’s Pizzaria Restaurant. After grabbing an end-booth away from the noisiest part of the crowd, and then beginning their meal, the dialogue continues:}
Walton: {once seated, ordered, and eating, he starts by asking…”} I recently went through an exercise where I gave you a list of over 50 words, and you were expected to pass an opinion about them, either positive, negative, or neutral. Do you remember that exercise?
David: Yeah, sure. We gonna do that one again?
Walton: In a way, but we are going to do a variation on the same exercise, probably with a different outcome this time. Instead of just looking at words, we are going to look at people, and things here in the restaurant, and things just outside the window. We are going to be looking at a natural right-here-and-now world in its natural setting and conducting what it considers to be natural events. But yet we’re still going to be looking deeper for the judgments that are connected to those people, places, and events. Ready?
David: Shoot!
Walton: Let’s start with food choices. It should be obvious that everyone in this particular place made a choice that had something to do with pizza. And even though there are other items on the menu, the focus was the topic of pizza. So why would any random person in here pick one kind of pizza over another?
David: First of all, Walton, is there a correct or incorrect answer to this question? How much work do I have to put in to make sure I get the right one?
Walton: The answer to your first question is no. The answer to your second question is not much, or none at all. It is your choice. It is up to you. So, tag, you’re it.
David: Well, it would matter about what kind of the toppings you like or don’t like. Not too deep a decision there. Meat or vegetables? Anchovies or olives? Cheese or no cheese?
Walton: Okay, Little Belief Bee. Not a bad start. Now, let’s just take meat or vegetables. How would they make the choice between one of those two options?
David: Really?! Sometimes it’s just the flavor. Sometimes it’s their health issues, if they have any. And sometimes it’s what they were raised with. The decision is in their past somewhere.
Walton: Aha! Now we are getting somewhere, and we are getting there quickly! Where in the past do you think that decision was made? And why?
David: Wait. You said a few minutes ago that I can make up anything I want to, right?
Walton: Yup, go at it!
David: Well, my imagination says that the decision to eat meat or to become a vegetarian probably started with their parents and their opinions about what is healthy or not healthy. Okay?
Walton: A-Okay. Now, to continue. Where do you think their parents got their opinions?
David: B-Okay, I think I see what’s going to happen here. We are going to go hunting down baby rabbits in parent rabbit holes! Their parents got their eating opinions from their own parents, and it goes back into infinity and beyond!
Walton: How far back do you think we need to go until we get to the source of that chain of opinions?
David: I suppose that our collective caveman ancestors probably had a preference about eating raw meat off wild tigers or scrapping for nuts and berries in the forest!
Walton: So, jump back for a moment. You are suggesting that the dining choices made in this restaurant in this time and place, are all a result of the survival needs of our Neanderthal ancestors? And if so, has any new or original opinion been created since that time?
David: I would say that our survival needs are pretty universal. And based on our environment at the time, we choose what we need to choose to maintain our physical existence!
Walton: Well done, my good and hungry faithful servant. Let’s dig back in to our nice warm meat lovers wild tiger pizza!
David: A wise choice to be guided by, …
Walton: While you are cramming the next slice into your mouth, I would like you to consider how in the world this relates to our topic from the earlier PTP page, “why bother?”. Why are we bothering to study choices that have been made for us so many years and possibly centuries before us?
David: {pause to chew…} Ummm. You started this line of questioning with the words that could suggest that there is a right and wrong answer to these decisions. And who are we to determine what is right and what is wrong? And will the rightness or wrongness of our answer give us the reason about why we bother to make all these decisions?
Walton: Your thought train is on the right track, my fellow consciousness traveler. The reason that Steven Stickman’s question on that page is so important, is that someday we might just get curious about why we do and think and say and act the ways we do. Why are we what we are? Who is or was responsible for what we are? What happens if we get to a point where we want to change what we are? What if our current present condition does not any longer suit our survival needs? Are we stuck in the patterns of our ancestors?
David: What is the role of choice, or free will, in our lives, if indeed there is any such thing as free will choices at all? Yes, that IS a pretty deep rabbit hole into which we unconsciously fall, every day and in every way. It determines who we really are.
Walton: Who we really are? “Really”? Do you think that it is important to find out who we really are?
David: Well, duh!! Why else is there any reason for us to be anything?
Walton: Do you remember a while back when I raised the possibility that, instead of finding out everything about us, we’re going to be led back to the idea that maybe we are nothing at all? We are all nothing except the illusions and the opinions contained in the programming of our ancient ancestors? Would you be okay with that?
David: Not at all! No.
Walton: That is why we run little exercises with ourselves like the one we just completed. To find out if we are more than our past programming. What if there were actually something new and unique and refreshing and energizing and freeing in the world that allowed us to be different and less limiting than a collection of previously created programming?
David: I’m all for that, brutha! I ain’t no clone, I ain’t no drone, I am just the King Bee on my throne!
Walton: Not yet, Little Bee. I am the top king, you are just the tiny sting thing. And I have a few more rabbit holes to explore before all the rest of these pieces of pizza get tossed down that hole.
David: More choices?
Walton: Of course. And it is your job to tell me if there are any different kinds of answers in my other topics. For example, most of the people in this restaurant this afternoon are connected to the local University. Did they have a choice in picking a major subject area to study? Do they have a choice in which clothes to wear today? Did they have a choice of hairstyles? A question of where they would sit? A question of where they will shop and what they will shop for? And finally, in the “Why Bother?” game, are these choices right or wrong, positive or negative, useless or useful?
David: Most of those seem pretty easy. I think you can track them all back into their childhood, and most likely into the influence of the parents on their upbringing on that childhood. Which also leads us back to the upbringing and history of the generation before them, and the generation before them, and the generation before them, ad nauseum.
Walton: Then let’s try one that might be a little more challenging. Did all of the people in this pizza joint get a chance to pick their cultural background, including the color tone of their skin? We often use the terms about the white race or culture, the black or brown or red or yellow or green or purple races and cultures. Was there a choice made there based on their current survival needs? And, based on your answer, consider the same original question: “Why bother” with finding out that answer?? As we examined a few nights ago, is there a single positive, or negative, or neutral response to any of those choices? An absolute good or bad or indifferent judgment to place on those people? And why should we continue to bother with whatever opinions are expressed about that situation?
David: This answer could be tricky, because it is such a delicate topic nowadays. {pause…} I was not raised in an area of the country where there was much prejudice because of skin color. Although the geographic area had a predominant background, it still had representative cultures from most areas on the planet. Maybe it was the numbers of these that led to a reduction of negative judgments about these other folks. But, to me, they were just the same blood and bone and muscles tissue as the rest of us. Everything about them, except for skin tone, was the same. All were earthlings first, and then subcultures afterwards.
Walton: Good start. I especially like the thing about the earthlings. It leads into an important aspect of how and why cultural judgments are made. It is a matter of perspective. Very prejudice people, on all sides of the debate, have tiny little perspectives, like tiny little brains with little capacity for expansion. And yet, like the re-focusing of a microscope or telescope, the perspective widens, and broadens as you adjust the lens. More aware? Then more awake!
David: So why is there such a large number of people who are so scornful of the other beings who share this planet?
Walton: Go back to our earlier exercise. Where did all the beliefs and programming come from? Would two trance-ant people create a trance-end-ant child? Or would they blindly just pass along their own limitations?
David: Well, it all depends on who has the most influence over the child. Maybe, if they could all get away from the household soon enough, they could escape the limitations of their ancestors.
Walton: And how practical is that? That they could all just move away from home?
David: Probably not too realistic, especially to any degree of great numbers.
Walton: So we are stuck with trance-ant parents creating another trance-ant child. Until, at least, some energetically strong enough force changes the very environment in which they are being raised. Do we want a race of people who evolve and move past their limitations? Or do we just maintain the status quo, because we are basically too lazy to do the work to alter it?
The existence of a thing, a Stimulus, is one thing, yet our judgment of that thing is totally something else.
All “reasons” are just complicated patterns of arranging our lives. Beliefs upon beliefs, and, yes, Beliefs all the way down!
David: So, I have now consumed much more than I can handle, pizza and pieces. You told me that, for each chapter of your “All It Is” book, we would cover some simple and single question. Sounds like that ain’t gonna happen here!
Walton: The Belief System chapter is a truly unique creation, and had to be handled in a truly unique manner. We are now, hopefully briefly, going to work in reverse. From the complicated crap we just covered down to the “Atomic Nature” description of a single Belief, upon which all later beliefs are built. Any time you need a simple reminder of the Nature of the Belief System, go back to that chapter heading, drop down a few inches of text, and meditate on the “Components of a Belief Unit.”
And, just in case you ever have the audacity to claim that you are “bored” with this study, here are a few more brief exercises you can practice all on your own, or with family and friends at a party gathering! Ready?
David:, No, not really. But thanks anyway!
Walton: And yet, here they are, anyway!
Awareness Exercise 1: “I Am Outta Here”: have a conversation with another person without any use of the words “I, Me, My, Mine” or any other first person pronoun. This should lead to a separation of yourself from the current interaction, in order for you to better acquainted with the role that your big bad Self (BS) has in life. It might also accidentally develop a greater awareness of self and what it is.
Awareness Exercise 2: “Free Flight”: start with ANY word, and say the first thing that comes to mind with that word. Then react to the newer word, in a long, endless chain of associations.
Awareness Exercise 3: “What’s In A Name?”: re-name things, anywhere and anything, just to break down our previously firm attachment to the labels that we put on things. Give them totally different titles and labels, making no sense at all. See how challenging and dominant our BS tries to be in this attempt to “rename” the world.
Awareness Exercise 4. “BS Breakdown”: Experience the separation of each of the Three Elements of a Belief. Observe any thing in your environment. Attempt to place a Judgment on that thing. If you see a tree, does it evoke any sort of opinion, a negative or positive impression? If so, why? This activity breaks down a simple belief into Stimulus (the tree), Response (the negative impression, or actual physical sensation) and “&“ (the choice that it is negative versus positive, some previously experienced moment dealing with pain/ pleasure and trees.
David: I think that the most important thing for me to do at this very moment is to “separate” the various parts of My Self with those of Your Self, and take along winter’s nap!
See you tomorrow, if I am able to come out of hibernation by then!
Walton: BE the bed, and the head in the bed, and the very well-fed. Oh, and as a preview of “coming distractions,” we have a science class tomorrow! Nighty-night, don’t forget to turn out the light!
*****