Byron Katie says yes to Switzerland
By Jena Griffiths | May 3, 2015
“It’s not the problem that causes our suffering; it’s our thinking about the problem.” Byron Katie
Byron Katie will be sharing her wisdom with us in Earth School’s open auditorium in a few weeks and she will be doing a European tour in July (Amsterdam, Swiss Alps, Paris, Zurich, Cologne and Bad Neuenahr, Germany.)
I’m deeply honored to do this interview as personally I think Katie’s simple “4 questions” process is the biggest breakthrough ever in psychology to end human suffering. It will certainly end your own suffering if you try it.
Byron Katie is a spiritual mentor to millions of people around the world and author of several books, such as Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life.
Byron Katie calls her method of self-inquiry “The Work”:
“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.”
Join us for this interview and submit questions.
The Work is a way of identifying and questioning any stressful thought. It consists of four questions and a turnaround. This is a way of experiencing the opposite of what you believe.
If you are going through hell right now with a problem, particularly a relationship problem, put your experience through Katie’s simple 4 question process.
The four questions are:
1) Is it true?
2) Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
3) How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought? and
4) Who would you be without the thought?
The turnaround involves considering the thought in a reversed form- changing subject and object, changing yes and no, or changing it to be self-referential. For example, for the thought “My husband should treat me better,” turnarounds could include “I should treat my husband better,” “I should treat myself better,” or “My husband shouldn’t treat me better.”…
Try the 4 questions on anything that is bothering you right now. Give yourself the gift in these 4 questions and really taken the time to do the work. More detail on how to do The Work
More about Byron Katie
Byron Katie has taught “The Work” to people all over the world, at free public events, in prisons, hospitals, churches, corporations, shelters for survivors of domestic violence, universities and schools, at weekend intensives, and at her nine-day School for The Work.
For a fuller account of Byron Katie’s story read Rebirth of a Madwoman – The Resurrection of Byron Katie an excerpt from Bridge between worlds by Millman & Childers
More about Byron Katie’s European tour
Katie is married to Stephen Mitchell who says:
” I had put in all of this effort for years, including many hundred-day solitary retreats where the regime is twenty hours of meditation a day. That’s really tough. Then I found a woman who completely embodied this, someone who at the time of her awakening was given a method that’s so simple that even children can do it, that cuts out all these years and decades of effort. You know, people can access what I was so hungry to access in a fraction of the time. I think it’s the most marvelous thing in the world. ” excerpt from Scott London’s interview.
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Topics: Dealing with the inner critic, Relationship problems | 2 Comments »
May 4th, 2015 at 8:50 am
[…] Our lives are driven by the questions we ask ourselves. This applies to everything, not just niche issues. If things aren’t working out the way you want them to, re-examine the questions you are asking yourself and simply ask better questions. Where to start? Try Byron Katie’s 4 questions. I’ll be interviewing Byron for Earth School about this next month. In the meantime, find out more here. […]
June 1st, 2015 at 5:23 am
[…] cons of holding onto or letting go of your current shades. The best way I know for doing this is Byron Katie’s 4 questions and a turnaround. The turnaround is a smart way of removing your current specs and trying others for […]