Blindfolded Hidy Ochai cuts an apple off my throat with a razor sharp samurai sword in Milan, Italy

As a young karate student, my instructor told me he had held an apple in his mouth while another black belt blasted it out with a nunchaku weapon, which is a wooden flail that creates incredible speed and power on impact. He could have had his jaw broken and his teeth shattered, so I asked him, “Why would you do that?” His response was, “I’m a believer.”

As an impressionable teenager, I wanted to be a black belt like him. On a subconscious level, I immediately programmed that mindset into my brain. If he was going to believe, so would I.

Looking back, I think it was insane for both of us. There were times when other “believers” did in fact get their teeth knocked out, but that story works as a great example of how an authority figure can instantly reprogram the belief system of someone who is receptive to their input.

Tabula Rasa
Aristotle is widely considered to be the first to offer the idea that the human intellect “is like a clean tablet on which nothing is written.” He referred to this as “tabula rasa” or “unwritten slate.” The idea is that you are born as an empty slate, and your influences, experiences, and authority figures “program” you in your formative years. While there is little doubt that certain instincts, sexuality, intellect, and genetics play a role in development, programming is more about how you are conditioned to view the world.

Everyday it seems we hear of religious fanatics blowing up themselves and innocent bystanders in the name of their religion and other strongly held beliefs. While religious diversity exists in countries allowing such freedom, the fact remains that one’s religion is strongly influenced (programmed) by parents and other authority figures and location. Not many Christians are being raised in Afghanistan.

Imagine five children born at the same moment but in five different locations: Thailand, Iran, India, Israel, and America. As adults, each one most likely will believe in the teachings of: Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity, respectively. You could say each was given a different program concerning religion and his eternal future.

Some of these programs are so deeply ingrained and diametrically opposed that their followers have been killing each other for centuries.

It’s important, in my view, that we each discover where our true, authentic values lie. They may be closely aligned with your programming, or they may be way off. Only you can make decision.