The Broken Logic of “I’ll Believe It When I See It”

I have always been raised to think that “I’ll believe it when I see it.” That the testimony of the eyes should be honored above all.

As I studied to be an engineer, this belief system was reinforced by my professors and peers as we examined the physical phenomena of moving bodies, chemical reactions, and mechanics of materials.

Very soon my entire philosophy of life rested upon the conviction that we are physical beings and have our human experience only as bodies moving through space, trapped by time.

Emotions were nothing but synapses of the brain, aspirations and dreams nothing but the fruit of social programming. That was until I was shown the unseen side of my personality.

I was made aware of the larger side of myself that gave rise to the physical thing I had given all of my attention to.

Although it can never be directly seen, through representation and understanding I “saw” my mind for the first time. This image came to dominate my thoughts.

Over the following months I studied the image, its uses, and how I could effectively implement the idea into my own life to alter my thinking and results.

After examining the image of my higher self, I came to a stunning and sudden truth:

We are not bodies; we are non-physical beings living in human bodies, having a human experience.

I first saw this reflected in how we refer to our bodies. It is always “my hand” or “my leg” as though you were referencing something you own.

“My name” is Alex. I own the name, but I am not the name. We can change our names but we cannot change our nature, which is unseen. So we are not physical beings.

As I studied, I came to know that the mind is a multi-faceted experience more than it is a thing. We have individuality, the collective, and the physical manifestation prodcued by the interaction of the two.

Individually we have our conscious human experience. We can think in the moment using our intellectual factors Reason, Will, Imagination, Memory, Intuition, and Perception; we form our experience through our thoughts.

Collectively we have the summation of all thoughts. As we form thoughts we contribute to a force larger than ourselves.

This can be proven by the fact that the sum of all our thoughts makes our lives. It is said, “We become what we think about.” The sum of our lives makes our species, our civilization, and ultimately our world.

Lastly, the sum of thoughts coupled with the passage of time will invariably yield a physical result. Thoughts sown of a particular shape will cause the formation of that shape.

The physical result is what we have been made to pay attention to almost exclusively. It is actually the effect of a much deeper causal chain that originates long before its manifestation.

In general, I see two types of physical phenomena. First are natural phenomena like plant life, animal life, and the naturally occurring elements.

The second are non-natural or manmade phenomena. This includes anything that was conceived of and created by man.

For both, the creative process is the same. For the tree, a seed is placed in the ground with a plan of growing roots, sprouts, bark, branches, leaves, and more seeds for the continuation of its species.

Human beings also plant seeds containing ideas of what they want to become in their minds and will invariably grow toward that idea until it is either abandoned or achieved. The only difference between the tree and the human being is choice.

The tree cannot grow into anything else. The tree has only two options: grow and multiply or die and decompose.

In our most basic nature, we also have the two options: grow or disintegrate. We, however, are able to choose what we grow into.

The tree never worries about whether it will grow into a tree, it always does. Likewise we should understand without fear or worry that we will grow into the image or seed we hold and plant in our minds.

James Allen once said, “The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart — this you will build by your life, and this you will become.”

I have come to the conclusion that all things are possible to a human being that can live aligned with these words. If an individual can see with their mind the image of what they want and desire it strongly to the exclusion of all else, the thing is theirs.

Out of this, however, comes a much greater gift I believe to be far more valuable than riches. It is a calmness of mind.

The understanding that thought precedes all gives one the means to release completely the tensions, anxieties, and worries that often accompanies life. There is no reason to rush or hurry when one lives the truth that in thought the thing is completed.

Upon completing it in thought, one has only to wait and work, although the hardest work has already been done.

Sincerely yours,

Alex