MARI SELBY: When we examine the depths of our being we find our beliefs, which are formulated by our perceptions. Our sight is the primary sense we base our perceptions on. However should we always believe what we see? Do we base our beliefs on limiting perceptions, or are we willing to dig a little deeper and take a chance on the great mystery?

Our beliefs inform how we make choices, respond to input, feel and think. We all hold surface beliefs that we easily recognize. We look into the mirror and judge our appearance based on what we see. We may see a new grey hair or a laugh line and believe we are getting old. We may have trouble looking in the mirror because what we see is not what we want to see. Because of what we see we may believe we are too fat, too thin, too old, too curly headed, too hairy, or too wrinkled. All of these beliefs are based on what we see on the surface. The human eye is merely a camera, our brain is like 'Photoshop', and our beliefs shape the interpretation of the perceptions we receive.

According to Jennet Inglis, “Our eyes have components that act just like the parts of a camera, and like a camera, all the parts must both work well individually and together to create a good image. 

The lens cover for the eye or your camera is your eyelid. Your eyelid blocks light and dust and other foreign materials from damaging your eye, especially the filter for the lens itself, which is your cornea. Imagine that your cornea acts almost exactly like a filter on the lens of a camera. This cornea is the main focusing element. All different kinds of rays of light, namely images, pour into your cornea every second. Your cornea absorbs compresses and bends the rays of light to fit through and into the pupil of your eye. The pupil of your eye is the dark coloured circle in the centre of the outer coloured ring of your eye called the iris. Both the pupil and the iris act like the aperture of a camera. 

Focused through the iris and pupil, the rays of light containing image information move to the next stop which is the lens of the eye. Exactly like a camera lens, your eye lens focuses the image information onto the back of the eye called the retina. The retina acts just like film. Photoreceptor nerves in the retina convert the information into electrical impulses which are then transmitted to the optic nerve, and that information is transmitted to the brain where an image is perceived. From there the brain sends information around for further analysis…which is what we call 'perception'. 

These perceptions form deeper beliefs. How do we find and understand the beliefs below “I am too curly-headed”? We first unearth the emotional reaction to being “too curly-headed”. Does this belief make us feel afraid or angry? When we grasp the emotional reaction, we can examine whether these deeper beliefs stop us from being happy, from feeling free to be ourselves, or from being able to heal our bodies. When we are willing to let go of the visual perception as absolute fact we are able to shift and even heal our bodies. Contrary to the social myth, What you see is what you get; what we see is simply a perception. What we choose to do with that perception is our decision.    

Last year, when I stared at the CT scan that displayed the cancerous tumor on my kidney, a rush of emotion flooded my body. From fear to denial, from rage to acceptance, and finally to a possibility of hope all shook me like the rag doll I felt in that moment. I had the awareness to ask myself what do I do with this information? I was tempted to stay with the fear and the belief that the doctor was right - there was nothing I could do to change this fact. Then I stepped back and thought, “I perceive that the doctor and my eyes are telling me that this is a cancerous tumor”. I could have stayed in fear. Instead in that moment I thoroughly registered the light of hope, and wore it like a victor’s cape. That hope led me to reject the belief that once there is cancer there will always be cancer. Though my eyes told me one thing, I held onto the belief that miracles happen. 

And a miracle did happen. Through God’s intervention, all the prayers sent my way, my visualizations and a handful of great healers the cancer was transformed without traditional medical treatment. To this day I am still pondering what happened and whether I truly had any part in this miracle. What I know is that I was willing to let go of the visual perception handed to me by my doctor, and I was open to miracles. Maybe that is all one can do is recognize our perceptions and then be open to look deeper ~ to the great mystery. 

This week’s exercise: Look in the mirror what do you see? Do you see someone who is too fat, too thin, too curly-headed, too old, or too smooth? That is a belief based on your perception. Now go a little bit deeper and ask yourself what is the emotion below that belief. Does this belief make you feel angry or afraid? When we are afraid of being too curly-headed then we may want to hide who we really are from the world. When we hide our true selves we stop ourselves from being happy, free and even being able to transform disease. Give yourself time to dig deeper and discover what is below the surface of what you see. Dig deeper into those perceptions and discover the limiting beliefs you hold.