In this section, we will present to you a very useful method for discovering, more effectively, the deeper beliefs which are limiting your happiness, health, harmony and spiritual progress. I answering these questions, please:
1. Be concentrated and have at least an hour, or better, three or four hours to dedicate to this extremely important step towards self-knowledge.
2. Answer the questions honestly. Do not hide the truth from yourself. Only you will be seeing what you write. There is no need to show it to anyone. Have the courage to be totally honest with yourself.
3. Do not be afraid to write down beliefs and needs, or desires, which conflict with each other. This is natural for a being in a state of evolution. There will always be some lack of congruency between what we were in the past and what we are evolving into.
4. Read all the questions once through. Then begin at number one. If at any time you think of other answers for questions you have already answered, go back and add them.
5. Check your answers after a few weeks to a month and then every six months to a year, to notice any changes in your beliefs.
6. Try to give at least three answers to each question. If there are more than three which are equally important to you, write all of them.
7. Work with an intense desire for self-knowledge and liberation from limiting beliefs.
8. Answer these questions as you actually feel now, not as you would like to feel, or believe that you should feel.

A QUESTIONNAIRE ON YOUR BELIEF SYSTEM

PART 1.
MY SECURITY BASE AND INNER FEELINGS
(Try to give 3 answers to each of the following statements)
1. Three positive human characteristics which have the greatest value for me.
2. Three negative human traits which are most unacceptable to me.
3. I love and accept myself most when·
4. I feel guilty when·
5. I feel negative when·
6. I feel happy when·
7. I feel insecure when·
8. I feel secure when·
9. I do not believe that I can·
10. If my house were to catch fire and I could save only three objects (excluding living beings), they would be·
11. Those things that I fear most are·

PART 2.
HOW I SEE OTHERS AND HOW THEY SEE ME
(Try to give 3 answers to each of the following questions)
12. How my spouse or lover sees me.
13. Three positive characteristics of my spouse or lover.
14. Three weaknesses or negative traits of my spouse or lover.
15. How my parents see me.
16. When I was young, my parents always told me that I was unable to·
17. The criticism that I heard most often from my parents was·
18. Three positive characteristics of my father.
19. Three weaknesses or negative traits of my father.
20. Three positive qualities of my mother.
21. Three weaknesses or negative traits of my mother.
22. How I remember the relationship between my parents to be until I reached the age of eighteen years old. (Here you may want to write at more length).
23. I cannot forgive others for·

PART 3.
HOW I SEE MYSELF
( Give 3 answers to each question )
24. I feel the greatest inability or weakness when·
25. The criticisms which I hear most often from the people around me are·
26. Three positive qualities of my personality.
27. Three weaknesses or negative aspects of my personality.
28. I cannot forgive myself for·
29. I feel powerless when·
30. I wish I could·
31. How I imagine or feel my soul to be.
32. How I imagine or feel God to be.
33. How I feel my relationship with God.
34. My purposes in life are·
35. Now please write a letter to an old friend whom you haven't seen in twenty-five years, describing "who you are" and "how you are" now.

HOW TO ANALYZE YOUR ANSWERS

Before going on, it would be better to actually answer the above questions. Then you will gain much more out of the following analysis.
We will analyze these answers according to five basic categories:
I. Our beliefs about what makes us feel SECURE, SATISFIED AND HAPPY.
II. Our beliefs on what requirements must be fulfilled in order to LOVE AND ACCEPT OTHERS.
III. Our beliefs on the prerequisites for LOVING AND ACCEPTING OURSELVES.
IV. Our beliefs about our ABILITIES AND TALENTS.
V. Our beliefs about our relationship with GOD AND OUR SOUL.
Basically, the same process will be used in each case. In this section we will apply the analysis technique to our beliefs about security, satisfaction and happiness. There are seven steps to this analysis.

1. CHECK THE ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS
The various answers to the above questions will help us to discover how our feelings of security and happiness are depending on certain "prerequisites" or external conditions. The questions which have most to do with this subject, and thus may give you the most information, are numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. This does not mean, however, that the answers to the other questions may not give us important information in this inner research. Some answers may give us direct information (such as those given to the above-mentioned numbers) in which we are asked to directly reveal what makes us happy, or unhappy, or secure or insecure. Others may give us indirect information through analysis and deduction. For example, in analyzing the criticisms we heard as children and hear about ourselves now, we may discover the cause of some weak points toward which we are more vulnerable. In analyzing what human traits are most unacceptable for us, we may discover that we feel incapable of coping with such behavior, or perhaps reject such behavior, because we reject it in ourselves. Thus, in this first stage, we want to discover what our feelings of security, satisfaction and self worth depend on. When do we feel secure and when do we feel insecure?

2. SEE WHAT IS COMMON IN THOSE ANSWERS
We want to discover what thoughts, or prerequisites, or conditions for security are being repeated many times in our answers. From this, we can make a list of conditions for our feeling secure, satisfied and happy. It must be understood that the larger this list is, the less likely we will be able to fulfill it and thus, the less likely we will be able to feel secure or happy. The smaller the list of conditions, the more likelihood for happiness. Sai Baba, a great saint living in India, has said: " The richest man in the world is the one with the least desires and the poorest man in the world is the one with the most desires." Here, we are not talking so much about desires, although desires are in fact the end result of these feelings of insecurity and dissatisfaction. We desire these things which we believe at some level will make us feel secure or fulfilled.

3. ANALYZE WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT YOUR SECURITY, SATISFACTION AND HAPPINESS
Now we write down what we believe on the basis of our analysis. Some sample beliefs that one may discover might be:
a) In order to feel secure, I must have plenty of money.
b) In order to feel secure and fulfilled I must have an exclusive personal relationship with someone.
c) In order to feel happy I must have the love and acceptance of others.
d) In order to feel secure I must have an important job.
e) In order to feel satisfied I must have various sensual stimuli on a regular basis (i.e. coffee, cigarettes, sexual intercourse, alcohol, tasty food, TV., cinema, etc·)
f) In order to feel secure, my house has to be clean and in order.
g) In order to feel secure, I have to feel in control of my environment.
The list is infinite in number and variety. These are a few examples. Make your own list. What does your security and happiness depend on?

4. FIND THE CORE BELIEFS WHICH CAUSE YOU TO BELIEVE WHAT YOU BELIEVE.
The above-mentioned beliefs are superficial beliefs. They are based on other core beliefs which are deeper and more powerful. Many systems of positive thinking try to change these beliefs on this level. That is, you might be instructed to repeat " I feel secure without money, or without a relationship partner, or without a job." But in many cases this is not effective, because it is like plucking the leaves off a tree that we want to remove. The leaves will just come forth again, perhaps in other places. This is also the reason why simply hypnotizing someone and making suggestions that he will not smoke or not overeat, is not always advisable. One smokes or overeats out of some inner need, probably based on insecurity, or lack of self- love. When we simply stop the manifestation, without fulfilling the basic inner need, it will manifest itself in some other self-restrictive habit.
Here, we are interested in going deeper, so as to discover the basic core beliefs which make us believe that we must fulfill those various prerequisites in order to feel okay. Let us investigate some possible beliefs which may be behind the previous answers we gave.
a) Money is security. Money can bring safety or happiness.
b) I have not the ability to make the money I need to survive, or will not have the ability in the future.
c) I do not have the resources necessary to face life alone. I need help from someone else.
d) I am safer if I am with someone else.
e) I am this body and thus I am vulnerable to harm and death.
f) I am this personality. I am what other people think of me.
g) There is no God, no Divine Plan. I must protect myself.
h) Pleasure is found through stimulation of the senses from without.
i) I am good and acceptable if my house is clean and in order.
j) Life is dangerous and I must secure my safety by controlling the environment.
k) Others cannot be trusted.
l) As you can see, core beliefs are beliefs about the nature of reality, about who we are and what others are and the nature of man and of life itself. These core beliefs then give birth to a wide variety of superficial beliefs which form our reality.

5. COMPARE YOUR CORE BELIEFS WITH THE ETERNAL TRUTHS
Now we want to analyze these core beliefs to see if they stand up to logic and if they stand up to the basic truths which are upheld by the various religions and spiritual philosophies. For example:
a) Does money really offer protection? Will it protect me from illness, from death, from thieves, fire, war, earthquakes, floods, from a nervous breakdown, from failure in relationships? So why all that emphasis on money for security? The above-mentioned problems are the basic ones, which plague mankind, and money cannot offer much help in avoiding them. There is absolutely no indication that those who have more money have less problems, or better health, or happier lives. Rather, the opposite seems often to be true. Thus my belief that I must have money, in order to feel secure, seems to be based on a programming which does not stand under logical analysis.
b) Does money really offer happiness and satisfaction? Does whatever money can buy give lasting happiness and satisfaction? How long has your happiness about a new dress, or a new car lasted? The satisfaction of a tasty dinner or drink lasts a few hours, if it doesn't turn into displeasure even more quickly. That lovely trip we took was great fun and we broadened our minds, but it has not become a source of lasting happiness. Our house has become more of a burden, and the second and third house even more so. More responsibilities, more expenses, more work to keep them up, more worries about what will happen to them. Let us not be unrealistic. A certain amount of money is essential for survival, for basic needs and for self- fulfillment. But this is a very small amount. I have personally experienced how wonderful a simple life is, with just enough to cover basic needs, and I prefer it to depending on money, and what it can, buy for my happiness. This does not mean that I would not be interested in having more money to direct towards the goal of human evolution. But I do not believe that I will be more secure, satisfied or happy if I have it. Probably I would have more concerns on the material level.
c) Am I so incapable? Are the others around me more intelligent, more able, more prepared for facing life than I am? Am I inferior to them in ability to survive in this world? How do they all survive? So many of them are alone and with less abilities than I, and with more needs. How do they survive? How do the birds, animals and plants survive? Am I not more intelligent and capable than they are? Then why all this fear and insecurity about facing life alone? Have I been conditioned to believe that I am weak and incapable? Have my parents undermined my sense of power and ability? We must also analyse this belief in terms of its basic brother core beliefs, such as "life is dangerous and difficult" and "there is no power or God which will protect me or help me." "I am alone." This is, of course, a matter of faith. But a logical look at the universe will uncover that there is obviously some great universal intelligence, which is creating and sustaining this world, in which so many different beings exist in such a delicate ecological balance (regardless of the fact that we have destroyed this balance). All the major religious systems accept the reality of an all-powerful and omniscient consciousness, which is in intimate contact with all beings on the earth. Not to believe this, is not to believe Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Rama, Mohammed, Zoroaster, Sai Baba and all the saints of all the religions in history. What makes all these saints different from us is their FAITH in this truth. Thus I question my belief that the world is dangerous and that I must protect myself, that I am not capable of protecting myself and that I need plenty of money and/or someone to take care of me. Perhaps I have been brain-washed by the beliefs of my parents, teachers and society. Perhaps I have been influenced by TV, newspapers, magazines and cinema, which focus on violence and the negative in the world. Perhaps I am not as insecure and as unsafe as I thought. Perhaps I can feel secure even without money or an exclusive relationship. Perhaps I can find another inner security base.

6. FIND THE SPIRITUAL TRUTHS WHICH WILL LIBERATE YOU FROM THOSE FALSE BELIEFS
Remember we want to get free. Our goal is to liberate ourselves from our prison of false beliefs. These beliefs must now be replaced with new, more expansive ones, which include the power and beauty which exist within us and in the world around us. Paradise is already within us as a dormant state of consciousness. It will never become manifest as long as we believe that we are weak and unworthy. The various spiritual beliefs have been given to us, by the great spiritual beings of history, to use as a fire to evaporate the cloud of ignorance. We must establish them in our minds and make them the core of our new belief system. Some examples would be:
a) I am an immortal, invulnerable soul.
b) There is a divine plan which is always bringing to me the experiences which I need for my spiritual evolution. Those experiences may be pleasant or unpleasant. It doesn't matter. They are all exactly what I need at that moment in my life, in order that I may wake up a little more to the truth of my being.
c) I am a cell in the body of humanity and thus, as long as I serve the body of humanity, that body will provide for my needs and protect me.
d) I am a soul in the process of evolution. All powers to face all difficulties are found within me.
If I can begin to believe these truths, I will really start to feel secure and safe in all situations. No matter what is going on around me, I will feel safe inside. When I feel safe, I will not panic, or fear, and my actions will be more centred, more effective in really protecting me. There will be less mistakes in my life. I will accept all experiences in life as gifts from the Divine, as opportunities to learn another lesson and to exercise my inner potential. How wonderful life is...I will also have less ego, which means more love, which means more friends and thus, more security and happiness.

7. MAKE AN AFFIRMATION OUT OF ONE OR MORE SPIRITUAL TRUTHS AND EMPLOY IT
We must now choose one or more of the spiritual truths, which are most effective in neutralizing the negative effects of our false programming. We want to make an affirmation, or a simple but potent phrase out of this truth, so that we can reprogram our mind with it. How is this done?
a) Whenever the mind is under the control of negative thoughts such as helplessness, fear, anxiety, worry, insecurity, etc., bring this new belief which you want to establish in your mind as an affirmation. An example would be, "I am an immortal soul. I can receive no harm. Even if my body dies I will still exist unharmed." The key phrase here is that "I am an immortal soul." The other thoughts are secondary thoughts which may or may not come after. Another key phrase would be, "All is happening according to a divine plan," or, "Life gives me exactly what I need every moment." Which concept you choose, and how you phrase it, it is up to you. It is a personal matter. Different phrases have differing amounts of power and effectiveness for each individual. You may work on phrases, or concepts, which have not been presented here, or which I have never heard of. It makes no difference. It is only important that that phrase removes the feeling of insecurity from your mind, and hopefully opens you up to a larger view of yourself and an awareness of your real spiritual nature, and the spiritual nature of the world around you.
b) An affirmation can be repeated on a daily basis in an attempt to reprogram the mind. This may be done while walking, driving, cleaning the house, waiting for someone, or at any time when the mind is not consciously engaged.
c) The affirmation may also be programmed into the mind by relaxing the mind through some technique such as deep relaxation, mind control or meditation, and repeating these truths mentally. At this moment both the conscious and the subconscious mind are in contact and the conscious mind can give messages to the subconscious where these beliefs are stored. While doing this, one would do well to imagine this new belief to be true by feeling it inwardly, or by creating images, on the screen of the mind, which represent this new belief, this new reality.
d) One may also write these affirmations many times a day trying to feel them to be actually true as he writes.
Some combination of these various ways of reprogramming the mind, with these spiritual truths, will help each of us to liberate ourselves from these blockages towards feeling secure, satisfied and happy in life. Work seriously on this questionnaire and subsequent analysis. Keep your notes concerning this questionnaire, because in the next chapter we will use your answers to analyze your beliefs about your talents and abilities and inner powers.

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