When I attended a poetry reading in Melbourne, there was a man there who sang   
   a song that went like, “You have to believe in yourself... you don't have a   
   position because you do not believe in yourself.”   
      
   That man was utterly full of crap.   
      
   I have known any number of highly effective people. Most of them believed, not   
   in themselves, but in something greater than themselves. Believing in yourself   
   can be a source of strength, but it is neither the only nor the best source of   
   strength. Some    
   people with such beliefs have become successful. But so have any number of   
   Muslims, Mormons and Sikhs.   
      
   The Freemasons pretty much run the world. Yet Freemasons require a belief in   
   something. They do not tell you what you have to believe, but they state   
   outright that an atheist can never be a Freemason. There appears to be a very   
   good reason for this.   
      
   If all that you believe in is yourself, then you are going to be selfish and   
   you are going to be weak. The littlest things would throw you off-balance. You   
   don't get a promotion, you're a loser. Some idiot is attacking your character,   
   you are the lowest    
   thing in the world. Something unexpectedly bad happens, it must be negativity   
   in your consciousness.   
      
   Whereas if you believe in something greater than yourself, you are more likely   
   to make rightful sacrifices and you are more likely to act with genuine   
   courage. And these, ultimately, make for much more effective – as well as   
   more ethical - human beings.   
      
   The self is not something that should be believed in. It is not something that   
   should be deified. Your consciousness did not create the solar system. Your   
   consciousness did not create the United States. And while there are any number   
   of people with such    
   beliefs who have in fact become effective people, so have any number of others   
   who believe in completely different things.   
      
   To respond to the man mentioned above, I am not looking for a position. I am   
   looking for wisdom, so that in whatever position I find myself I know how to   
   do the right thing. And there is very little wisdom in attitudes such as his.   
      
   Now there have been people involved in mysticism who have in fact achieved   
   genuine wisdom. I know several. However this attitude is dead wrong. In a   
   place that has opportunity, anyone with drive and intelligence can become   
   successful regardless of what    
   he believes in. They may believe in themselves. They also may believe in   
   Christ.   
      
   The Freemasons do not recommend believing in yourself. They say that you have   
   to believe in something. Once again, they are probably the most successful   
   group in history.   
      
   Some beliefs have a positive effect on the character of the people who adopt   
   them. Others have a negative effect. Once again, if all you believe in is   
   yourself and nothing besides yourself, then you are not going to be a good   
   person. You will be selfish,    
   and you will be weak. And that does not lead to improvement in one's character.   
      
   I've had respect for a number of people involved in the New Age movement.   
   However I have no respect for beliefs that are demonstrably wrong. Some of   
   these beliefs are positively poisonous. I knew a very talented and intelligent   
   young woman who was    
   naturally altruistic who said that if she cannot live for herself she cannot   
   live. This is wrong absolutely. One can live for any number of things other   
   than oneself. And if you have natural altruistic tendencies as did this woman,   
   then telling her that    
   she has to live for herself is not only misguided but destructive and ruinous   
   in every possible way.   
      
   Now maybe it is understandable why these people developed such convictions.   
   They started out fighting for all sorts of altruistic causes. They were met   
   with a greater force; at which point they did a complete turnaround and became   
   totally selfish. I    
   would encourage these people to rediscover their original ideals. They may not   
   have had the power when they were younger to make them reality. They do have   
   that power now.   
      
   But when they are going around bullying people and telling them that they have   
   to believe in themselves or else, they are doing something that is wrong   
   absolutely. Once again, there are many things that one can believe in and   
   become effective as a result.   
    The self can be a source of strength, but it is neither the only nor the best   
   source of strength. Many Christians are strong. Many Muslims and Hindus are   
   strong. And any number of them are also highly effective people.   
      
   Believing in yourself is therefore in many situations misguided. Being told   
   that you have to believe in yourself or else is absolutely wrong. The   
   Freemasons have a much better idea, and so do the Christians. Both of these   
   groups have become exceptionally    
   successful. And they did not do so by believing in themselves, but by   
   believing in something greater than themselves.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)