Judging Books by Their Covers

February 4, 2024

Another source of information when judging a 'book' is direct experience. Direct experience is our personal encounter and involvement with a person, idea, circumstance, or thing. The knowledge received from direct experience is not the knowledge we receive from a third party's experience. Though learning from other people's experiences helps us understand things, direct experience doesn't depend on other people or secondary sources.

Direct experience is face-to-face. We are not reading about it, listening to someone else's stories, or living it from a handed-down myth or belief. We live the experience through our hearts', minds', and bodies' intelligence. Personal direct experience is a reliable source of information for our judgments and decisions. A popular saying these days is, "I want to speak my truth." This saying exemplifies direct experience— we don't second-guess our own truth. We know it is true. Psychologist Carl Jung was asked in an interview if he believed there is a God. His answer has now become noted: "I do not believe there is a God; I know it."

Trusting our direct experience is challenging, especially in this age of social media and Artificial Intelligence. Many of us believe reading something on social media is a direct experience. However, social media posts are not a direct experience. It is the word of another party who may or may not be telling the truth. Unfortunately, the power of social media is that it can perpetuate lies that people are willing to believe and even act on because they elicit fear, shame, anger, and all the nine passions. So those who have great influence and use lies also affect the collective, and thousands of people act on those lies.

When our passions are stirred by what we hear and see to the point we are willing to act on them, it is time to drop into our hearts and soul, where we invite rational experience into the picture. We collect information from many sources, not just the ones that evoke our passions. In poise and in soulality, the truth is experienced directly. That way, we don't judge the book by its cover but by how the book affects us directly.

Inquiry: Have you ever let fear, shame, or anger drive you to do that which your soul would never have let you do?

Dear God,

Center me, back me out of the ego's frenzies, and help me to experience the truth directly. Amen

To receive Dr. Howell’s Reflections in your inbox everyday, complete the form below to begin your journey into who God has made you to be. The path to wholeness starts now!