The Nature of Reality according to Byron Katie

Well she didn't actually tell me this... but here's my story about her story! The Nature of Reality according to Byron Katie is "God is All and God is Good". That's what she says in her books. And she also says Reality = God.

So I figure that must mean that whatever is - is the absolute best possible thing for you and for me - no matter what it is. Also because the minute you oppose what is, you suffer. When you don't oppose what is, you feel fine. And this is going on in every moment - all the time. Our resistance, your resistance, my resistance is our only suffering. All suffering is resisting what is. And resisting what is, is not having faith in God the Good. Because if God is All and God is Good, then THIS has to be Good. There is no other possibility.

So why don't I get it?

Why can't I clearly see and understand this and release myself from the prison of my own scary thoughts? I guess the truth is that the WORK is what this is all about and that by doing the Work on a regular basis, I am releasing myself - one thought at a time - thought by thought.

Byron Katie said (when she was in Copenhagen at the beginning of the year) that she wanted to find out how to be happy even when she didn't get what she wanted. And she did find out how. She found out that as long she didn't believe her thoughts, she was fine. It was only her thinking that made her suffer - not life itself. Life doesn't make anyone suffer. Life just unfolds - only we don't see this, so we don't experience it. We have all our stories about how Life "should" be - and that's what we get to live. And all the resistance is painful. All resistance is "ouch", "ouch" "ouch"! Without the story - no resistance.

This is just such a radical view of life - it takes us way way beyond anything and everything we've ever learned.  The short version is: Resistance = suffering  / Acceptance = peace

Comments

[Julie]

Right there with you. One thought at a time.

[Barbara Berger]

Yeah Julie... one thought at a time. Isn't this the most amazing insight???