Suffering is Optional

"I discovered that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but that when I didn't believe them, I didn't suffer, and that this is true for every human being. Freedom is as simple as that. I found that suffering is optional. I found a joy within me that has never disappeared, not for a single moment. That joy is in everyone, always."

— Byron Katie

Don't Be Careful

"Don't be careful.
You could hurt yourself."

— Byron Katie

Whatever It Takes

"Whatever it takes for you to find your freedom,

that's what you've lived."

— Byron Katie

Pointing To Freedom

"Our parents, our children, our spouses, and our friends will continue to press every button we have, until we realize what it is that we don't want to know about ourselves, yet. They will point us to our freedom every time."

— Byron Katie

Byron Katie Talks About Herself

This is an exerpt from an interview by Ray Hemachandra. Ray asks Katie: Would you talk about the fluke and grace? Who were you when The Work was born, and who are you now?

Katie Answers:

Who I believed myself to be was a hopeless case. I would wake up in the mornings, notice I was still breathing, and hate God for keeping me alive. I would constantly think of killing myself, but I had three children, so that wasn't a possibility.

I was clinically depressed. I was agoraphobic, full of rage, so paranoid that I slept with a gun under my pillow. I would go for days and weeks at a time when I couldn’t even bathe or brush my teeth. My self-esteem was so low that I slept on the floor, because I didn’t believe I deserved a bed.

One morning, in 1986, as I lay asleep on the floor, a cockroach crawled over my foot. And I opened my eyes out of this dead sleep—a 43-year-long sleep—and in place of all that darkness was a joy that I can’t describe. No one had told me you could be alive and happy, and if someone had said that, I wouldn’t have believed it. I thought you had to die—physically die—to escape.

In that moment I was absolutely unidentified, so I can’t say “I.” It was without identification. There was no time or space. There was nothing separate. All that was left was amazement and joy. And whenever a thought—whenever any of the thoughts that had depressed me all those years, those terrifying thoughts that told me how worthless and terrible I was—hit my mind, I saw that it wasn’t true.

I began to laugh—or, without identification, we can say that it began to laugh. It just roared. I like to say it was born out of laughter.

The Work was born in that moment. I realized that when I believed my thoughts, I suffered, but when I didn’t believe my thoughts, I didn’t suffer. And I’ve come to see that this is true for every human being.

So, the first two questions in The Work—“Is it true?” and “Can you absolutely know that it’s true?”—are what I saw when the thoughts appeared. No thoughts are true. They can’t be. I saw that with absolute clarity.

The third question is “How do you react when you believe that thought?” Well, that was obvious: sadness, anger, despair. I saw that all these things are the effects of believing a thought that isn’t even true.

Then I saw that there was no identity until the thoughts appeared, so the fourth question is “Who would you be without the thought?”

Then what I call the turnaround, which is a way of experiencing the opposite of what you believe, occurred. I saw that for every thought, the opposite is just as true, or even truer. I realized that it was all upside down and backward—what was true, what was not true, what was the dream world, what was the real world.

For example, I used to suffer from thoughts like “My husband should listen to me.” The turnaround was “My husband shouldn’t listen to me.” How did I know that my now ex-husband shouldn’t listen to me? He didn’t. That was reality.

So, I had all four questions and the turnaround literally in a moment—in less than a moment. And when I talk about my world, people relate to it, because it’s so familiar to them. It’s them. They’re hearing themselves.

Inviting people to inquiry is much more powerful to me than describing my experience. When people ask me, as you did, I try to describe it, because it’s all valuable. And when people hear me tell the story, they often say, “Oh my goodness, I get it. I get it!” But it’s not enough.

Asking the questions — actually writing down your stressful thoughts and putting them up against the four questions, then turning the thoughts around and finding genuine examples of how the turnarounds are true — that’s what changes lives. Every cell in your body is awake with inquiry. And you cannot believe the old thoughts again.

Every mind deserves to be free. When the mind is free, that’s the end of suffering.

Control Issues, Trust, and Being Open

We seek to control our lives when we do not trust, when we do not love. Our ego, perceiving itself to be vulnerable and insecure, uses control in an effort to protect itself. At the root of our need to control, we find fear. It may be fear of the unknown. Fear of not coping. Fear of loss. Or possibly even fear of looking stupid. And as our efforts to control other people and events invariably fail, our fear increases.

“When I grip the wheel too tight, I find I lose control.”
~Steve Rapson

Trust, on the other hand, is a quality of the soul. While control is a tool of the mind, trust and faith are aspects of the heart. Trust comes with the deep knowing that we are spiritual beings in physical bodies. When we trust enough in life to give up our need to control, we can relax and open to the flow of energy in our lives. This brings peace of mind. ~from Higher Awareness

Here we have a perfect picture of trust and openness. I don't know which is more important for me to achieve - the open hand that speaks gently and quietly of allowing beauty, love, and whatever it is that I want - to come and go as it pleases; the open hand that says I don't have to cling to anything in order to "make" it stay.

OR

Is it important for me to know that I am in "good hands," that I can fly if and when I choose, and that there will always be a safe place to land, that I am free and unlimited in every way. What about you guys? What is important for you?

"The only real security in life lies in relishing life's insecurity."
~M. Scott Peck

We are free and unlimited!

Accepting and saying thank you that we are free and unlimited in every way!

Affirming Freedom

Affirming and visioning freedom today for:

Cindy: I want to be free to travel whenever I feel like it, be gone as long as I want, and not have money be the factor that stops me.

I want to be able to tell all my friends that I am a witch and be able to get them to understand what this is (and what it is not) without a reaction of fear, revile or (worse) making them feel the need to "save" me.

I want to have the freedom to teach my granddaughter values that don't get undermined by her family, i.e. my beliefs that the police are NOT bad, dental hygiene is a GOOD thing, dressing a 2-year-old up like a hooker for Halloween IS NOT such a good thing, etc.

I want the freedom to live in a house with enough space to make me feel comfortable and a bathtub big enough to enjoy!

I want the freedom to believe there is the perfect man out there waiting for me who will love me and accept me for who I am!

I want the freedom to believe that I am GOOD enough for anything and anybody, no matter how I look, how old I am, what my income is, what my house looks like, or what my physical limitations are.

I want freedom from worrying about everything! No more worrying about money, my health, my weight, my daughter's health and school success, my son's well=being, my granddaughter's childhood, the repairs my house needs, the maintanence my car needs, the policitians screwing up the country and the world, etc.

It seems like all my "freedom" wishes are very much tied in to my other wishes of prosperity, health, etc. I guess that's not surprising.


Shirley: What I want is freedom from the thoughts, behaviors, habits, activites, fears, and ideas that limit me and hold me back.

I want freedom from problems with lack and limitation.

Freedom from debt, freedom from overdue bills, freedom from work that doesn't bring me happiness and fun. Freedom from drudgery.

I want to know that I am free to go to take a vacation and go to the beach anytime I choose, that I am free to buy small things like nutritious food and bigger things like a dryer.

But mostly I just want to FEEL and KNOW that I am free. That nothing binds me, nothing cramps my style, nothing holds me back... not even me.

Melissa: To me, freedom is FEELING free and BEING free: of debt, of overbearing people, of tiredness, and of things I dislike!

Anything that I don't want to do, I don't have to do.

Anything I want to do, I have time, energy, money, patience, knowledge, support, resources and aptitude to get it done!

Freedom means going to bed when I feel like it and sleeping as long as I need to in order to feel healthy, well and energetic.

Freedom means when I go to buy something I want, I look in my wallet and always have at least $10 more than I need.

Freedom means being able to support my loved ones and my favorite charities anytime I choose, in any way I choose.

Freedom means CHOICES and I get to make them!

Daniel and Michelle,: For whatever it is that is freeing, and joyful. For whatever they want to release. For whatever it is that means "freedom" to them.

Freedom

What is it that you would like to be free to do, say, be, feel, have, buy....

What does freedom mean to you?

Free!

I am thankful
that today I am free to

_________________.

The Golden God

The Golden God, the Self, the immortal Swan
leaves the small nest of the body, goes where He wants.

He moves through the realm of dreams; makes numberless forms;
delights in sex; eats, drinks, laughs with His friends;
frightens Himself with scenes of heart-chilling terror.

But He is not attached to anything that He sees;
and after He has wandered in the realms of dream and awakeness,
has tasted pleasures and experienced good and evil,
He returns to the blissful state from which He began.

As a fish swims forward to one riverbank then the other,
Self alternates between awakeness and dreaming.

As an eagle, weary from long flight, folds its wings,
gliding down to its nest, Self hurries to the realm
of dreamless sleep, free of desires, fear, pain.

As a man in sexual union with his beloved
is unaware of anything outside or inside,
so a man in union with Self knows nothing, wants nothing,
has found his heart's fulfillment and is free of sorrow.

Father disappears, mother disappears, murderer,
rich man, beggar disappear, world disappears,
good and evil disappear; he has passed beyond sorrow.

~The Upanishads

Day 21

A human being is part of the whole, called by us "Universe". He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is kind of a prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

~Albert Einstein

Self is

Self is everywhere,
shining forth from all beings,
vaster than the vast,
subtler than the most subtle,
unreachable,
yet nearer than breath,
than heartbeat.
Eye cannot see it,
ear cannot hear it nor tongue
utter it;
only in deep absorption can the mind,
grown pure and silent,
merge with the formless truth.
As son as you find it,
you are free;
you have found yourself;
you have solved the great riddle;
your heart forever is at peace.
Whole,
you enter the Whole.
Your personal self
returns to its radiant, intimate, deathless source.

Mandaka Upanishad

What is Grace?

"What about the grace of the Diety?" seekers ask. Grace is received from the God when you are consistent in your worship, consistent in your discipline, consistent in your bhakti, your devotion.

With such a foundation in your life, a great shakti, a force or power, will come from Lord Ganesha. This is grace. It is uplifting. It comes unexpectedly. When grace comes, your mind may change and your heart may melt. Your sight will become clear and penetrating. You may say. "I have been graced to see everything differently." New doors will begin to open for you, and as you go through them, your life will become more full, more wonderful. And the grace of it is that it would not have ordinarily happened to you....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved to my new website, The Prosperity Project at shirleytwofeathers.com, and can be found in its entirety here: What Is Grace?

Diminishing Debts

This is a great spell for helping you diminish any debts you may have incurred, including those standard monthly debts otherwise known as bills.

The word abracadabra is extremely ancient and can be a powerful invocation to rid oneself of sickness and poverty. In this spell, we are going to use it to diminish bills and debt.

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved. I have a new website, shirleytwofeathers.com, and The Prosperity Project is currently in the process of moving in over there. Here's a link to this particular post: Diminish Our Debt

Banish bills, worry, and bad vibes

This is a very powerful banishing spell to pull worry, fear, bad vibes, unpaid bills, and just about anything that contributes to negativity out of your home and out of your life. It can be done anytime during the full or waning moon.

Supplies needed:

• A cheap plastic planter (or container) about the size of a tub of margarine
• Potting soil
• A brown egg
• A brown marker or crayon...

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved. I have a new website, shirleytwofeathers.com, and The Prosperity Project is currently in the process of moving in over there. Here's a link to this particular post: Banish worry, bills, and bad vibes 

Flushing our bills away

Here is something easy and simple. It's probably not an "authentic" gypsy magic spell, but I think it's worth doing.

List your bills separately on toilet paper.
And flush the toilet paper down the toilet.

As you are doing this,
remember that what comes in must also go out.
And that's OK.
Because you are in the flow....

... I am so sorry to do this to you, but this post has been moved. I have a new website, shirleytwofeathers.com, and The Prosperity Project is currently in the process of moving in over there. Here's a link to this particular post: Flushing your bills away