There are two kinds of truths: Universal Truth and Contextual Truth. Universal Truth can be recognized by a feeling of peace or joy, it is timeless and always grounded in love. If something is Universally True it can be found in every philosophy, religion and culture, as well as in science. 

Contextual Truth is something that was true at one time or in the context of a certain situation, but does not apply Universally. It may bring up feelings of fear, anger, confusion or mistrust and may begin to have a limiting effect on our lives.

For example: a child bitten by a dog may form the belief that all dogs are dangerous. If this belief is not challenged, he or she will grow up with a fear of dogs that will last a lifetime. In the context of the attack, the dog in question was obviously dangerous, but this is not true in a Universal sense, and is not true of all dogs.

We often attract people and situations into our lives that provide us with opportunities to recognize and correct our mis-guided beliefs. I had a friend called Sara who grew up with the belief that she would only be loved if she pleased people. This started with her parents, and progressed into her relationships and career. At work, when she attempted to get the approval of her manager by meeting all of his expectations, he would just increase her workload. No matter what she did, she never received the approval she so desperately sought. So she worked harder and harder until she finally reached breaking point and actually became physically ill.

Sara’s belief meant that she couldn’t say No when others placed demands on her. She ignored her own physical needs in order to be seen in a good light by her manager. He wasn’t necessarily a bad person; he was also trying to be valuable to his company. But he was in her life to hold a mirror up for her faulty belief system: if she had had healthy boundaries and reasonable expectations of what she could and couldn’t do, she would have understood that he would always ask for more and it was up to her to say No.

Our body will always tell us where we are harboring our limiting beliefs. We can all acquire the skills to consciously focus on this discomfort, and become aware of the emotions that are stored there. When we look with the illumination of Unconditional Love, we are able to see the error of our limited beliefs, and what we need to do to transform them. From there, we can take the first step towards releasing our Contextual Truth- based beliefs, heal the parts of the body where they are stored, and become aligned with the Universal Truth.