Byron Katie's, "The Work"

As I watched the entire "A New Earth Webinar" with Oprah and Eckhart
Tolle, I often thought of the similarities between Tolle and Byron Katie.
They were both clinically depressed before their parallel awakenings
which changed both of them forever.

For most of us, if we are fortunate enough to have a spiritual experience,
the effects may last several hours or several days at which time the
effects recede and we return to normal everyday consciousness.

For both Eckhart and Katie, the effects of their awakening seemed to
stay with them. Katie told Oprah, for instance, that she has never had
a bad or depressed day, or even a moment of sadness in twenty-two years.

Tolle said the same thing in Oprah's webinar.

Katie explains that to the extent that any of us believe our thoughts,
we suffer accordingly.

When we learn to question our thoughts, we experience immediate release
and freedom.

She calls this level of questioning, "The Work."

If I love myself and love my experience and everyone in my life, these
thoughts work for me, and do not need to be changed or questioned.

Katie said that love is the highest standard of a balanced mind.

But thoughts like, "He doesn't love me," or "I should lose weight,"
or "I am a bad person," or "You are a bad person," are thoughts that when
held up to the light of Inquiry, simply lose their strength and meaning.

These are the four questions that Byron Katie uses for her process of Inquiry,
to each thought that brings suffering:

1) Is it true?

2) Can I absolutely know without doubt that it is true?

3) How do I react when I think that thought?

4) Who would I be without the thought?

Then the thought is turned around.

Katie said that defense is the first act of war. When we ask these questions
of our thoughts, a shift occurs, a liberation.

No longer am I concentrating on what other people think, what
they are doing, or saying.

In other words, according to Katie, I am focused on minding my own business,
not anyone else's business, not even God's business. Figuring out what
is right for me is a full time job. Minding my own business takes tremendous
focus and concentrate.

Katie said she did not suffer at the time of her mother's death. She dropped
her schedule and stayed by her mother's side. As she was dying, Katie looked
into her mother's eyes and saw her leave this plane of existence. She did not
feel sad, she felt only love. She was fully present for her mother in those
last moments, and she said she felt very grateful for the experience.

Oprah went through a mini-session with Byron Katie.

Oprah said she has always struggled with her weight. She had gotten her weight
down to where she was comfortable, was exercising and maintaining her weight.

Then she was diagnosed with a thyroid condition and her doctor told her she
may as well get used to always being heavy.

Oprah said she believed the doctor, stopped working out, and in retrospect,
realized she gave her power over to the doctor when he said those words, "You
will always be heavy," instead of defining what it is she wanted for herself and
her body.

So Oprah's thought for Inquiry was: "I am sick and tired of always struggling
with my weight."

Is this true? Yes.

Can you absolutely know without doubt that this is true? After some thought she
said, Well not absolutely.

How do you react when you think the thought, "I am sick and tired of always
struggling with my weight?"

Oprah said she was frustrated, always thinking about what she is going to eat,
whether she should or shouldn't drink alcohol at a party, feeling obsessed about
food.

She says she wants to be a size 10, not size 14.

Is it true that your body is too large? Yes.

Can you absolutely know that it is too large? No can't be absolutely sure
because it is large (and that is the reality).

What happens when you believe the thought, "My body is too large?" Oprah said she
felt frustration as she compared her body to other bodies, just was frustrated
and is sick of it.

How do you react when you believe the thought "My body is too large?" I eat
more and am at war with myself.

Who would you be without the thought, "My body is too large?" I go to my closet
and put on comfortable cloths that fit and go about my day. I'll eat when I eat.
Only one person can be Oprah right here, right now.

Apply this Inquiry to every stressful thought, on paper, to achieve real freedom.
Sit with these questions in a state of contemplation. As soon as you argue with it you
miss the beauty of the process.

The inner war that arises from resisting what is- is fought on paper, going thoughtfully
and honestly through the four questions and the turn around.

My body is too large? What is the turn around?

My body is perfect just the size it is. It serves me. It is not who I really am,
the changeless "I," the soul. But I love it exactly as it is.

Another difficult thing for most people is learning to say "No." When people in
Oprah's family ask her for money, she may give it to them but doesn't really want to.
Katie said there are two parts to saying "no."

I care about you. I see that you may be in trouble. And I have to say, "no."

No one can take advantage of you without your permission. You must take responsibility
for your life. You must decide who you want to please: Please yourself and mind
your own business.

There is a difference between a prisoner screaming in his cell and the Buddhist monk
who, when placed behind the bars of incarceration says, "Thank you."

Our birth right is freedom. Love is the new paradigm.

Self-realization, if lived, is "The Work."

Kate Loving Shenk