Exercise 23 - Transparent Beliefs

A belief is transparent when you are operating through the belief without noticing it. Transparent beliefs are seldom helpful and, in fact, can be fatally debilitating. Most are self-sabotaging, adopted in a moment when you were something less than rational.

The first impression you have of a transparent belief is that it is unquestionably true. That's just the way life is. That's the way I am. Here's the proof! But then something funny happens: you discover that the proof for holding the belief is actually produced by the belief itself. A pattern begins to unfold.

Transparent beliefs are discovered by tricking yourself into expressing them and then stepping back and looking at what you said. Transparent beliefs are often hidden under the desire to be right, so finding transparent beliefs requires a degree of vulnerability.

One of over 30 exercises from the book ReSurfacing: Techniques for Exploring Consciousness © 1994 by Harry Palmer. Used by Permission. All Rights Reserved.