When You Are Done

"When they attack you

and you notice that you love them with all your heart,

your Work is done."

— Byron Katie

Control Issues

"No one has ever been able to control his thinking, although people may tell the story of how they have. I don’t let go of my thoughts — I meet them with understanding. Then they let go of me.”

~ Byron Katie

Enlightenment

Who cares if you're enlightened forever?

Can you just get it in this moment, now?

~ Byron Katie ~

My True Partner

"The voice within is what I'm married to.

All marriage is a metaphor for that marriage.

My lover is the place inside me where an honest yes and no come from.

That's my true partner. It's always there.

And to tell you yes when my integrity says no is to divorce that partner.

~ Byron Katie ~

Our Only Hope

"You are your only hope, because we're not changing until you do. Our job is to keep coming at you, as hard as we can, with everything that angers, upsets, or repulses you, until you understand. We love you that much, whether we're aware of it or not. The whole world is about you."

— Byron Katie

Ouch!

"If you put your hand into a fire, does anyone have to tell you to move it? Do you have to decide? No: When your hand starts to burn, it moves. You don’t have to direct it; the hand moves itself. In the same way, once you understand, through inquiry, that an untrue thought causes suffering, you move away from it."

— Byron Katie

The Miracle

"The miracle of love comes to you in the presence of the uninterpreted moment. If you are mentally somewhere else, you miss real life."

— Byron Katie

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

You don't get to vote

"You don't get to vote on what is.

Have you noticed?"

~ Byron Katie ~

What Is Real?

"The world is nothing but my perception of it.

I see only through myself.

I hear only through the filter of my story."

~ Byron Katie ~

Thoughts Are

"Thoughts are just what is.

They appear. They're innocent. They're not personal.

They're like the breeze or the leaves on the trees or the raindrops falling.

Thoughts arise like that, and we can make friends with them.

Would you argue with a raindrop?"

~ Byron Katie ~

Love is Action

"I've heard people say that they cling to their painful thoughts

because they're afraid that without them they wouldn't be activists for peace.

“If I feel peaceful,” they say, “why would I bother taking action at all?”

My answer is “Because that's what love does.”

To think that we need sadness or outrage

to motivate us to do what's right is insane.

As if the clearer and happier you get, the less kind you become.

As if when someone finds freedom, she just sits around all day

with drool running down her chin.

My experience is the opposite.

Love is action."

~ Byron Katie ~

The End of Suffering

"The end of suffering happens in this very moment,

whether you're watching a terrorist attack or doing the dishes.

And compassion begins at home.

Because I don't believe my thoughts, sadness can't exist.

That's how I can go to the depths of anyone's suffering,

if they invite me,
and take them by the hand and walk them out of it into the sunlight of reality.

I've taken that walk myself."

~ Byron Katie

A Teacher of Fear

"A teacher of fear can’t bring peace on Earth.
We have been trying to do it that way for thousands of years.
The person who turns inner violence around,
the person who finds peace inside and lives it,
is the one who teaches what true peace is.
We are waiting for just one teacher.
You’re the one."

~ Byron Katie ~

The only time we suffer

“The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is. When the mind is perfectly clear, what is is what we want.”

~ 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

Nothing Comes Ahead Of It's Time

"Nothing comes ahead of its time,

and nothing ever happened that didn't need to happen."

— Byron Katie

The Story

"The Work always leaves you with less of a story.

Who would you be without your story?

You never know until you inquire.

There is no story that is you or that leads to you.

Every story leads away from you.

Turn it around; undo it.

You are what exists before all stories.

You are what remains when the story is understood. "

~ Byron Katie ~

Getting Back To Heaven

"So, how do you get back to heaven?

To begin with, just notice the thoughts that take you away from it.

You don't have to believe everything your thoughts tell you.

Just become familiar with the particular thoughts you use

to deprive yourself of happiness.

It may seem strange at first to get to know yourself in this way,

but becoming familiar with your stressful thoughts

will show you the way home to everything you need."

~ Byron Katie ~