What If Life Is Not What You Think It Is

By Carolyn J. Shenk

This book, a blending of scientific, philosophical, metaphysical, religious and cultural ideas, challenges our preconceived beliefs about the world. In general we have been programmed to only accept ideas that fit in with what we consider to be 'normal' and already believe. Such limited beliefs have shaped our perception of reality, preventing us from fully experiencing a deeper understanding. This book offers the possibility to see life differently and provides an exposure to ideas and beliefs that would enlarge our understanding. In so doing, it offers us the hope of finding a view of life that would free us to experience a more complete truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 7, 2024
• ISBN: 9798350945706

Carolyn J. Shenk

This author spent a lifetime searching for truth. From an early age, she was drawn to unusual ideas. As an avid reader of books on philosophy, metaphysics, science, religion, prophecy and New Age, she was continuously exposed to new concepts. Living in Bangladesh, Puerto Rico, Ecuador and Sardinia, as well as visiting other countries, she discovered many cultures and beliefs which differed from her own. These experiences provided her with ideas that seemed capable of fostering a world unlike the one we presently believe exits, one that would be simple enough to be understood and lived by all of us.

Book preview

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This book was conceived 75 years ago when a young women began her search for truth. She discovered that limited beliefs have shaped our perception of reality preventing us from fully experiencing universal truth. A blending of scientific, philosophical, metaphysical, religious and cultural ideas, the book challenges our preconceived beliefs of how the world works. In so doing, it offers us the hope of finding a view of life that would free us to experience a more complete truth.

Copyright © 2023

Library of Congress United States Copyright Office, Washington, DC

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN: 979-8-35094-569-0 (print)

ISBN: 979-8-35094-570-6 (eBook)

Contents

An introduction to ‘What If Life Is Not What You Think It Is’

INDEX

PART I

PART II

PART III

PART IV

An introduction to

‘What If Life Is Not What You Think It Is’

What if your life is only what you personally experience based on your beliefs of what is possible? Those beliefs, whether provable or not, are conclusions that have been passed down from generations and now rule your life. Unless you give those beliefs meaning, they are simply just thoughts.

In this book we are concerned with how life actually differs from what we have been taught to think it is. Because we generally see only what fits in with what we already believe, we miss seeing that the ‘facts’ we base our truth on, are constantly changing. That allows more adequate ideas to appear. So, if we desire to find a deeper truth, we need to go beyond our commonly held beliefs.

This book attempts to join Science, Philosophy and Religion in ways that can lead us to possibilities that might enlarge our understanding of life. Science and religion share many ideas that seem to be different because they are defined differently, such as using focused attention in place of faith or to use the Quantum Web or the Mutual Self in place of the word ‘God’.

Such possibilities enable us to see life differently and prepare us to live in a higher world where the focus is on unity rather than individuality, on trust rather than fear, on creativity rather than conformity, on interdependence not independence, on self-acceptance rather than self-perfection, on inner worth not on physical prowess, on wisdom not on intellectual accomplishments, on forgiveness not revenge.

The challenge is to present ideas that are not commonly considered as possible, such as the idea that our reality is mental rather than physical, or the idea that we must work with what lies in the past while saying there is no past or future, only the present moment that’s free from your past’s limited understanding. Changing one’s perception can be very helpful in solving problems.

Many may be confused, and even offended, by the idea that we are not ‘separate’ individuals, but live as one Self, One Spirit. As has been said by ancient scientists, philosophers, and shamans, physical life may just be a day dream created by your imagination of what you want to be your reality. Then, to prove that your view is the correct one, you look for whatever seems to agree with it. In the end, you assume to have the truth, but it is only true for you.

Actually, most, if not all, beliefs are limited and adapted to your personal preferences, which are based on what and who you think you are and what you think is possible. Although those thoughts and beliefs are the tools you use to create and transform your life, they have no power over you unless you give it to them.

In working on this book, I have reread it hundreds of times only to find each time a better way to present its ideas. As I suspect that I will never arrive at an adequate conclusion that could not be changed, I leave it to the reader to continue the changes.

Over a lifetime of searching, I have encountered ideas that resonated with what I considered possible truth and thought it useful to share them. It is my hope that they find their intended readers.

What if there is only one Life that exists. What if each of us is simply a mind that has chosen to dream it is separate from that Life, busily traveling on our imagination to realities that we create by defining Life in ways that it is not.

What if each of us is not a solid body, but a 3-D projection of our minds that exists only in the present moment, which is the only time we are aware we exist, the only time we can make choices whose consequences become the fabric on which we weave the experiences we call life.

What if those experiences happen only in the Reality from which we came and to which we return. What if we never left that Reality.

INDEX

PART I

This first section deals with less known or new theories about life, that challenge us to consider how we see life and ourselves and which influence what we choose to create from what we believe. It affects how we use our imagination to define Life in ways that it does not now seem to be. It also presents possible solutions that we rarely consider because they focus on the physical aspects of problems rather than find the mental cause that may differ from our commonly held beliefs about science, religion, philosophy, truth, belief, objectivity, perception, consciousness, mind, thought, knowledge, wisdom, imagination, intuition, reality, meaning, the senses, emotion, ego, personality, the body, the brain, science, energy, matter, opposites, the magnetic field, Earth changes, the power of focused attention, invisible worlds, death, fear, trust, faith, religion, the Web of Quantum Theory, the Mutual Self, God, love, spirituality and much more. The only restriction is that no matter what you believe, you can only do it in the present moment, as it is the only time you are aware of existing.

PART II

This section explores some beliefs, philosophies and religions to find their commonality. However, having common beliefs does not prove they are the truth. More likely, the ultimate belief may simply be that no matter what Life or God is, ‘He/She/They/It’ are present in all of us whether you believe it or not.

PART III

This section involves general, less known information about the human body, the magnetic field, the electromagnetic field, chakras, dimensions, color and sound, all which indicate there is only one Life that connects to everything.

PART IV

This section deals with predictions about catastrophic Earth changes, changes that are eliminating old beliefs in order for new understanding to be accessed. It also speaks of the possible results of those changes in which everything will differ from what we now think of as our reality.

PART I

WHAT IF LIFE IS NOT

WHAT YOU THINK IT IS

What if life is simply the result of our endless choices and their consequences, many of which are hidden behind our limited beliefs, which keep us from any full awareness of what reality and its truth actually is. Not only do those choices form a veil over any actual truth, but they keep us from finding a reliable test of what truth is, mainly because we have the freedom (free will) to choose what we want to be true. So we seek for truth from ideas created by others, especially those that seem to agree with what we personally already believe. We look to religion, science, psychology, biology, philosophy, history, nature and channeled information, among others. We look to such as Albert Einstein and Roger Bacon who saw this world as an illusion of our consciousness in which each of us chooses his own version of reality. Others such as Philo, Karl Jung and the scientist Schrödinger seem to have agreed that there can be no knowledge of what life really is by itself since all knowledge (truth) is dependent on the effect it has on the individual mind.

It also depends on the questions we ask in seeking to understand the world that for now is limited to beliefs based on our preferences. Some of us prefer to see reality through the eyes of science which focuses on the objective or physical world. Others prefer a focus based on the subjective or invisible world, such as religion. Though science and religion differ in method, their goal to find truth is the same. They both deal with concepts that have yet to be accepted, such as the concept that the external world is just an illusion of our imagination based on what we choose to believe is there.

Presently, scientific theories are moving closer to religious theories simply by changing the way they are defined. For example, subatomic particles are no longer defined as things, but as ‘the potential to exist’, similar to Spirit. If that is true, then all physical forms that consist of subatomic particles are only potential realities which you might call illusions, thereby making miracles normal events. In the end, it’s all about what you believe it is.

In seeking truth, any information, whether true or not, must first pass through your mental and emotional filters. It must be free from what you already think is possible, free from personal desires, habitual thinking and rigid stored data that was interpreted from what was already believed. It must be free from the need for external validation, free from the need to ‘be right’. It must be accessible in a form that is recognizable yet so accurate that nothing can be added to it nor taken away from it. It must be honest in what is said and how it is said. It is only when there is no attachment to specific ideas and definitions about truth that there will be room for it to appear.

The problem with any written or verbal truth is that it is at the mercy of both the author and the reader, or the speaker and the listener, because all of them respond to it through veils of personal beliefs. Even though concepts from religion and science have passed through many interpretations in attempts to prove what truth really is, we rely on both of them to provide us with hypothetical ideas, often called facts, to explain life. Although facts are temporary possibilities which need constant up-dating as newer and more inclusive principles are grasped, they can and do give us the best explanation of the data available at that time, but only for that time. In the end their power lies not in their certainty, but in what we can believe is truth.

Jesus, called the Christ in the Bible, says that the spirit of truth dwells in you and shall bring all to your remembrance. So if truth is already in all of us, it may just be hidden behind our beliefs and preferences. Actually, it only needs you to believe it is true for it to help you in your hour of need.

Your beliefs, no matter what, become your reality, your life. If you did not believe they were possible, you probably would not experience life in that way.

Any belief is just a fixed conclusion that rules your mind even when proof of its validity is not present. It becomes a little god that fixes your choices, your responses and your definition of reality. However, if it does not resonate mentally and emotionally with you, your mind won’t accept it as being possible. On the other hand, if it is completely accepted, it closes the door to anything that opposes it. Once it is accepted, you continue to look for whatever agrees with it and then you gravitate to those who support that.

Although a uniformity of belief is impossible, we do tend to agree with what was passed on to us, much of which was based on beliefs handed down from previous generations. Even if you doubt their provability, you often choose not to disagree openly with them out of the fear of being seen as abnormal. Since it is difficult not to agree with beliefs held by the majority, you give in to this powerful control mechanism rather than willingly considering new, unproven ideas that arise from your own experiences and that can enlarge your perception of what is possible.

Usually it is very challenging to change a belief. Will power alone rarely can do it, but the willingness to question it takes away some of its power. Then, by acting out a ‘new’ belief with consistency and persistency, the brain’s cells reconfigure to fit it in. Just to believe that it can be done, starts the process.

The real dilemma is not whether you can prove that a belief is valid but whether you believe it is valid. Actually, it’s not what you say you believe, but how you live that lets you know the belief is valid, but only valid for you.

When you sincerely and consistently believe something is possible and you act out that belief in your daily life, its possibilities increase. As a Greek co-worker told me each time he passed me, Everything is possible within the limits of human endurance. Similarly, Jesus taught that if you can believe it, all things are possible, simply by changing the way you see it.

Although each one of us has the freedom to believe anything he or she wants to, too often we accept only those beliefs that we think society sees as normal. Not only does our devotion to normalcy place limits on our awareness of truth, it prevents us from finding it.

Ultimately, it is not about what presents itself to you, but about what you think it represents to you. It has nothing to do with getting it right, for there is no right way. There are only consequences from your choices that are made from your beliefs. And those choices, even if you’re not aware of them, are the cause of most of your problems.

To be aware that you are alive and are able to make choices that result in your own personal experiences is called consciousness. In theory, there is only one consciousness that precedes and permeates all of creation, commonly called the Quantum Web or what we call God or the Great Spirit or the Shared Mutual Self. (Note: since God is