Anonymous wrote: Thanks for the Byron Katie clips. While revisiting her work I wonder that "the work" begins with the judging your...
Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the Byron Katie clips. While revisiting her work I wonder that "the work" begins with the judging your neighbor piece. If there is no judging then there seems to be the need to do the forgiving for-they-know-not-what-they-do piece in conjunction with "the work". When a person is suffering from an actual wound inflicted (which can be real)I experience layers that go beyond or before her approach. Needless to say it is all worth contemplating and playing with, isn't it, especially when it comes to beliefs that are internalized..
Dear Anonymous, thank you for the comment and appreciation for Byron Katie's clips. I have found Katie's work to be remarkably helpful in so many areas of my life. I don't much use "the work" to determine whether or not a hurt is real, but rather to investigate my thought atmosphere during times of hurt, remembered or current, real or imagined. If a car drives over my toe, the hurt is real enough I suppose (I'll have to investigate that) - what I'm really interested in is my tendency to believe it should not have happened that way and how more pain it causes me to believe it.
Regarding your note on judgement. I understand that in absolute terms there is no judgement. One might say in the mind of God there is no judgement because there is no "other". However, in the human realm it seems to be the only thing we do. We judge with painful results. So starting with the Judge Your Neighbor piece seems to me to be an honest way of dealing with what is already going on inside.
I am no expert on the Work of Byron Katie and there are probably others who have more experience with doing the Work who could respond to your comment more thoroughly. My experience is from doing it for myself through pages and pages of journals. Doing the work has had a dramatic effect on my experience of the world around me. It has shaped the way I pray and what I pray for and has brought me face to face with the cutting edge of my growth potential. I have incorporated it into my daily spiritual practice.
Thanks for the Byron Katie clips. While revisiting her work I wonder that "the work" begins with the judging your neighbor piece. If there is no judging then there seems to be the need to do the forgiving for-they-know-not-what-they-do piece in conjunction with "the work". When a person is suffering from an actual wound inflicted (which can be real)I experience layers that go beyond or before her approach. Needless to say it is all worth contemplating and playing with, isn't it, especially when it comes to beliefs that are internalized..
Dear Anonymous, thank you for the comment and appreciation for Byron Katie's clips. I have found Katie's work to be remarkably helpful in so many areas of my life. I don't much use "the work" to determine whether or not a hurt is real, but rather to investigate my thought atmosphere during times of hurt, remembered or current, real or imagined. If a car drives over my toe, the hurt is real enough I suppose (I'll have to investigate that) - what I'm really interested in is my tendency to believe it should not have happened that way and how more pain it causes me to believe it.
Regarding your note on judgement. I understand that in absolute terms there is no judgement. One might say in the mind of God there is no judgement because there is no "other". However, in the human realm it seems to be the only thing we do. We judge with painful results. So starting with the Judge Your Neighbor piece seems to me to be an honest way of dealing with what is already going on inside.
I am no expert on the Work of Byron Katie and there are probably others who have more experience with doing the Work who could respond to your comment more thoroughly. My experience is from doing it for myself through pages and pages of journals. Doing the work has had a dramatic effect on my experience of the world around me. It has shaped the way I pray and what I pray for and has brought me face to face with the cutting edge of my growth potential. I have incorporated it into my daily spiritual practice.
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3 comments
I agree with you--it is a starkly honest method. Freedom is the word I would use if one is brave enough to go through the work. I wonder how-or if-Jesus would have used the work after being crucified. I don't think he ever judged his neighbor. He felt compassion surely. And Gandhi? He only chanted his mantra as he died from a gunshot wound. How would they "turn it around" or would they need to? A level to aspire to...Any kind of resistance to what is requires "the work". This is perhaps another way of characterizing it. Resistance & Reaction. The two ugly Rs. I enjoy the dialogue/debate...
ReplyIt is very easy for me to get distracted by "what if.." scenarios taking me away from the simple process of investigating my thinking. My mind wants to find loop holes and exceptions and it loves exploring anything but it's own delusions. Ha. So I am content to not know how others judge or don't judge while I'm in this zone of looking at my thoughts.
ReplyIt is very easy for me to get distracted by "what if.." scenarios taking me away from the simple process of investigating my thinking. My mind wants to find loop holes and exceptions and it loves exploring anything but it's own delusions. Ha. So I am content to not know how others judge or don't judge while I'm in this zone of looking at my thoughts.
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