Believing is seeing?

Many modern spiritual teachers tell us that if you first manage to believe that you will receive something, you will receive it.

This description is admittedly simplified and many add other things into the mix, such as that you have to imagine having what you want and get into the emotional state of it. And I don’t know. Maybe there is something to these a bit more expanded versions.

But I think that “believing is seeing” on its own is false and could even be harmful. What I believe, is that it’s actually a tainted version of something true, which I will get to in a moment.

Why do I believe that it is false or even harmful? First because it’s unfalsifiable. If you go around believing but you are not receiving, you can always say: “Well, I must have not really believed it.” While if you for some completely other reason receive it, you may take it as a confirmation that it works. But I think that there is a bigger issue here. Namely that we train ourselves to believe in a way that does not conform to how reality and our minds operate. We don’t always need evidence to believe something. But in the absence of evidence, we do need some other valid reason. 

So, what is the alternative then? Well, the alternative presupposes a belief in God. Now, I cannot prove that God exists, so as in many of my posts, I’m talking to those of you that have this faith. In this context, since what I’m criticizing is essentially belief without evidence, what I’m talking about is not such a belief. I’ve had plenty of experiences in my life that have confirmed my faith and I know that many others have as well. I know that God exists, but since I cannot prove it debating is useless. Either you have this knowing or you don’t. But know that everything that I talk about presupposes the existence of God. 

What I am proposing is that we can believe that we will receive something in the future, but that it is tied to God. If we truly put our faith in God, ask for what we truly want, which ought to be the same as God wants us to have and let our belief in God shine through our actions, we will receive what we ask for. Faith seems to be the key here. And it seems as if faith comes in a package. God wants us to trust him. And he wants us to demonstrate that trust through our attitudes and actions. 

So if I for example say that I trust God (this is an example from my own life), but blow up every time that I get an unforeseen expenditure, do I then really trust God? If I say that I believe in God, but have a hard time swallowing my pride, lie or put my own selfish interests before those of others, do I truly believe? 

I believe that this is a package deal. If you remove one piece of the puzzle all of it falls apart. I believe that this is the true meaning of “seeing is believing”. To summarize, the formula is as follows: We put our faith in God and trust him even through our hardships, which means that we believe that the bigger picture will turn out to be a good one, even if it doesn’t look that way in the moment. And we do our best to demonstrate this faith through our actions, thoughts, words and attitudes. In other words, we do our best to behave in a way where we show that we truly believe that God is watching us. And we strive to become people worthy of such a faith.