“It is not your beliefs, it is your behavior that counts. It is not your faith, but your function that counts. It is not your conviction, but your character that counts.”

These are words by Swami Sarvagatananda. They resonate quite loudly with me. It is not your beliefs, it’s your behavior that counts. What is he telling us? It seems to me it’s not your thoughts, it’s what you do with them. It’s not your intentions, it’s the attention you put on them. It’s not your faith, but your function. People call themselves Christians, they call themselves Jews, they call themselves Muslims. Sometimes their behavior, their function is anything but what their faith calls for. It is not your conviction, but your character that counts. You may have grand ideas, but how you walk in the world, does it reflect your ideas, your beliefs??

Many of the people that come to me, come to me because they find that while they have and hold the values of patience, of kindness, of non-judgment, while they know that those values are important, while they know that they are the inheritance of love, they are out of alignment with their values. Their daily life is proof of the disconnect they feel.

It is not your beliefs. It is your behavior that counts the Swami tells us. I would second that. Making our life our practice means making sure that our life is a reflection of our beliefs and values.. Let’s be clear ..how we move through our life is a reflection of the values that we hold dear. When our actions are not in synch with our values, when our life is not in alignment, we use those times to grow our soul.

We use the power of observation to notice what is.. We use the power of choice to change how we be, so that indeed our beliefs will be in alignment with our behavior. Our faith will be in alignment with our function. Our conviction will be in align with our character.

That’s what I do as a teacher. I realign my students.

If you need help getting back into alignment, send me and email. Selina@selinamaitreya.com. I’d be happy to set up a 20 minute no cost, no fee call with you so we can see how I might be of help.

As the Swami tells us, it’s not just our conviction, but our character that counts.

I’m happy to help you get into alignment so your beliefs, your behavior, your faith and your function, your conviction and character are all in synch … that’s where peace begins…