Personal Facts

Everyone has a collection of "personal facts." A personal fact is something that you know is true but cannot prove. For example, some people channel. A personal fact for them is that they are hosting other-dimensional beings. Unlike real-world facts, personal facts are subjective. Not everyone can test and experience your personal facts.

Usually, we do not question this knowledge. It represents the Way That It Is. The Dali Lama has shown a wise way to relate to it. One day, he and the late Carl Sagan were talking. Mr. Sagan asked His Holiness, "What if science proved that reincarnation was not true. Would you change your belief?" The Dali Lama thought a moment and replied with a smile, "Yes." That is how an open system works. It expands and transforms when infused with new information. It incorporates. (In IROOT:NOTology, this process is part of the "Friendly Borg Principle.") The alternative to being an open system is to be a closed system.

Closed systems are rigid thought structures. They resist change. Many examples of this exist in religion, politics, and the New Age movement. People can become confused and sometimes dangerous to themselves or others when they believe that a personal fact is a fact. ("She's a witch! Burn her!") The two are different. In this context, a fact is something everyone can know to be true. With physical laws, anyone can test them and find the same result. For example, anybody can drop a hammer while standing on the earth. It will fall downward at a predetermined speed. That is a fact. Alternatively, a Jew might believe that she is one of God's Chosen People. That is a personal fact. A more accurate name for personal fact is belief. Here are some other examples.

A personal fact for a Hindu is that you have to keep reincarnating until you finally get it right. For a Christian, if you believe in Christ and are good, then you will go to Heaven. Christians do not reincarnate. Hindus do not go directly to eternal Heaven or hell. Here, we have two different, mutually exclusive "facts."

In philosophical, New Age, and even scientific circles, people heatedly argue over their opinions. Yet, neither side can prove that they are right despite how sure they are. Ask a devout Moslem or Buddhist how sure she is about her beliefs. By some continuing coincidence, your personal facts are always right. Opposing views are consistently wrong. Civilized discourse becomes difficult because of this.

"This is my belief" shows detachment. "This is my personal fact" shows attachment. Repeat both phrases to yourself, and see how different they feel. Attachment happens when you mistake a belief for a fact. Conversely, you free yourself noticeably every time you convert a personal fact into a belief. Converting a personal fact into a belief does not change the belief, just your relationship to it.

Once the idea becomes proven — a fact — people do not usually dispute it. For instance, today, most people agree that the world is round, not flat. It took the Catholic Church about 300 years to accept this publicly.

Science

The major religions were founded well before we had discovered the scientific method. Many New Age doctrines have roots in these ancient beliefs. In pre-scientific times, the truth was simple. You accepted the word of God, prophets, sages, or famous philosophers. You accepted someone's inspired best guess. Although some of their ideas missed the mark, like the earth rests on a giant tortoise, the planets are gods, or metal cannot float, others were indeed inspired.

Today, some still believe that science is just another belief system. It is not. Practically, you can invalidate a personal fact by changing your belief system, but you cannot do the same with facts. For instance, with beliefs, an atheist may either be thrown into hell or he may reincarnate. Maybe neither will happen; we do not know. The result you expect is determined by your belief system. Conversely, you can change your opinion about gravity five times a day. That, however, will not change its nature or effect. Only your mind is changing.

Some say, "Well, it used to be a fact that humans couldn't fly. Now we can." However, we still cannot fly, but we have built machines that can. We ride in them. You could say that a few centuries ago, it was a fact that the world was flat. Now, the fact has changed — it is round. However, the "world is flat" theory was a collective personal fact that no one bothered to test.

Science is a universal measuring system. It analyzes the material world and is more universal than any religion, philosophy, ideology, or belief system. It produces viable results.

The Gray Zone

Humans have been doing science for only a few hundred years. That is about 1% of our existence as a race. Because we have not figured out everything yet, a vast gray zone of speculation exists. In medicine, occasionally a patient will startle doctors with a "miracle recovery." In this field, the promising study of genetic medicine is just beginning. The social sciences are still in their infancy as well. The challenge is to discern between personal fact and fact in all areas of our lives.

Ideology

Sometimes, personal facts contradict real-life fact. This happens when you take ideology past its limits. For instance, "I create my reality" does not mean, realistically, that you can blithely manipulate universal laws. Here is an example. "I can stand in front of an on-coming car. Because I create my reality, I can make it so the impact will not hurt me." This is untrue. Although anyone can say that, and surprisingly, some argue in its favor, only a disturbed person would try it. If you claim something that you (and everyone else) know is false, then you have left your integrity. You develop issues, become defensive or offensive, and lie more easily about other things. You have fallen into the mental embrace of Maya — ideology. Staying in your integrity helps avoid this pitfall.

Another note about ideologies: Ask yourself if your ideology considers human beings. If not, the idea will not work. For example, the idea "there are no enemies" makes sense if you are living in your light body on the Fifth Dimension. In real earth life, however, some people will not like you whether you choose to accept it or not. The point is to remember what body you are in and what time it is.

IROOT:NOT

IROOT:NOTians respect facts and understand their limitations. They also respect beliefs and understand their limitations. When opinion becomes dogma, it becomes difficult to surf the earth plane gracefully.

Personal facts are real to us, because the mind makes them appear that way. Yet, open systems know that someone can always interpret a personal fact in another way. They realize that their "facts" could be wrong. This keeps them loose. For a closed system, however, change is not an option. You already know the Answer, and this freezes you at that level of understanding. When the wave rises, you do not.

Do IROOT:NOTians keep some beliefs or release them all and stick only to the facts? They keep some, but they test them, as well.

For example, for most of my life, having an immortal soul was a personal fact. One day, I wondered, "What would happen if I dropped that belief?" I was afraid, and I put the idea off for a few months. Finally, I thought, "Well, I can always go back and believe in it again." So, I dropped it. Surprisingly, I did not die. I did not feel bad. The weights and complications associated with the soul dropped away: "Does the soul go to heaven or must it reincarnate? How is my spiritual evolution going?" None of this mattered anymore. Better yet, it prepared me for the IROOT:NOTian insight, "You are Presaved [TM]." I continued believing in the astral body, because I had several astral experiences.

Next year, I tried the same with God. I quit believing. This time, however, I felt very bad. The result of this experiment is that, now, I believe in God more deeply than ever, but not desperately. God is not a personal fact for me (although it feels like that), but a belief. This allows me to interact with atheists in a non-polarized way. It also shows that some beliefs can make you feel well and contribute to living a miraculous life. They are valuable.

One way to know your gut level relationship with your personal facts is to test them. Lay them on the sacrificial altar of Light. Have courage; bring down the Flaming Sword of Truth. Amen.

Question everything — seek balance — stay open.