Protecting Our Beliefs
Author: Lucy Lopez

A client of mine reflected: I noticed something about myself the other day. I get angry when I feel threatened, and I often take my anger out on some innocent person who has merely expressed an opinion to which I am obviously reacting!

That we react in anger when feeling threatened is really not all that surprising. It is an instinctive way of protecting ourselves, in much the same way that other animals do! But being human is about being able to exercise choice or free will instead of only ever activating our primal proclivities!

Perhaps it is worthwhile asking ourselves why it is that we feel so threatened by another's opinion or judgment or belief. What is it that we fear? Do we fear the possibility that they may be 'right' and we may be 'wrong'? Do we fear the possibility that if we accept that they are right, then we would feel obliged to change our opinion or belief or behaviour, something that is perhaps too difficult, or too risky, or demands giving up too much? Are we angry because their words or actions bear a 'ring of truth' that we have been trying to ignore or fight or suppress? Or perhaps we are angry that the world, including someone else's beliefs/opinions, is not the way we want it to be?

The Buddha advised that when an unwholesome thought enters our mind, we should deal with it by considering the opposite. Here then is an opportunity to consider how we might react, or rather, respond with choice, to someone's opinion/judgment/belief. If we are confident about our own position/belief/opinion, then it is unlikely that anything anyone might say would threaten it. In such a case, we are likely to acknowledge and accept the other's point of view respectfully and graciously, and reciprocate by sharing our own.

There would be no need to try and overwhelm or pulverise another person and/or their ideas/opinions with a blitz of counterpoint, logic, or impressively crafted questioning. Such behaviour is motivated by the desire to quash that which threatens us, to destroy before we are destroyed! As they say, in such cases, we may 'win the battle', but sadly, 'lose the war'! We may convince someone that we do not share their view, and even bully them into silence, or withdraw into silence ourselves, but in so doing we fail to express the basis and beauty of our own belief. On the contrary, we would be demonstrating the stranglehold it has on us and our thinking and/or the frailty of our own conviction!

A belief worth having is one that is happy to sit alongside the beliefs of another. It allows us the freedom to let it go, if necessary, without causing us to feel threatened and react in fear and anger. And as most religious traditions teach, ultimately beliefs themselves must be transcended! © Lucy Lopez 2002

"Inspired motivation comes from something beyond thought, something beyond the conceptualized ideas of 'good' and 'bad', 'desirable' and 'undesirable'" - Chogyum Trungpa








--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucy Lopez mentors and facilitates workshops for Corporate and Private groups and individuals in the area of Personal/spiritual Growth, drawing on Buddhist, Christian and Hindu frameworks, as well as her background in Science and Education. She also writes and publishes a free weekly ezine, A Drop of Light. To subscribe Email: inspiredpresence@iprimus.com.au Visit: http://www.com.geocities/inspiredpresence/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------