Believe in Your Self! A Meditation
I find the above advice from the Buddha rather amazing given that it was written over 2,500 years ago. Nowadays with the advent of the internet and the incredible amount of information that is so readily available to us, his guidance is even more essential.
An old adage goes: "No shoe fits all sizes." So, too, no teaching or teacher is the proper fit for everyone. I have learned over the years to practice discernment and really go within to make sure that whatever teacher or teaching I am studying really rings true for me.
I have found over the years that the only way to know for sure is to initially, of course, take the time to study and research the teacher or teachings; but ultimately I have learned not to use my mind and not to do an intellectual analysis. What I have learned to do, instead, is to quiet my mind, go into the stillness and just "feel" what is right. And then if it "feels" right, I "accept it and live it."
As well, I periodically go within and check again and again to see if it still "feels" right given that I am constantly evolving and changing.
What I am not saying here is to keep shopping around and never settle on anything. No, not at all! What I am saying here is to always go within to make sure you are still on the right path, namely your path and not anyone else's!
A path is not a static experience. It is something you travel upon; it is a journey. Yes, at times you stop to rest, but then you get up and continue the journey moving through an ever changing landscape. Your life, your dreams are constantly evolving! So, too, are your belief systems!
Every teacher/teaching is a step up your mountain of mastery. But each step leads to another step. No step is an end in and of itself.
One of the things I love to repeat over and over in my classes is: "If you follow any one but your Self, you will surely get lost!" You must be "true to yourself." And the only way to do that and to know your path and to come to "know thy Self" is to go within regularly and listen. Then you will stay on your path.
Meditation is the key that helps you to go within. It helps you to find and follow your Self and to truly know and believe in Your Self.