The Work of Byron Katie

In investigating his grievances about the lies a friend has been telling him, a man makes an astonishing discovery. He sees that all his wounds are self-inflicted, all his suffering is caused by his own unexamined thoughts. Inquiry provides him with the integrity and kindness he was demanding from his friend. "Give me a world of liars," Katie says, '"if that's the way to my own peace." For more information visit thework.com

At a recent New Year's Mental Cleanse, a young woman's inquiry about her partner's lack of vulnerability strikes a chord in the audience. Both men and women stand and give their own experiences of why men are afraid to be vulnerable. The young woman herself comes to realize that the dissatisfaction she feels may be her own unwillingness to offer what she wants to receive. "To test your vulnerability," Katie says, "is an act of courage. You have to be open to losing everything." For more information visit thework.com

Angry at the woman who left him for someone else, a man questions the thoughts that are making him miserable. "How do you react when you want her approval?" Byron Katie asks him. "I become a people-pleaser," he says. "It feels tight in my chest. I betray my integrity. I think that I don't know how to be in a relationship. I think that I'm ugly." After question his thoughts about the breakup, this brave man discovers, with a huge sense of relief, that his sense of betrayal comes from his own thinking, not from the woman who decided to move on. For more information visit thework.com

A woman, a physician, is in distress because her mother shamed her. Nine minutes later, with Byron Katie's help, she has softened, wept, and come to a new understanding. Through inquiry, she realizes that she herself is the one who shamed her, and that her mother is innocent. "There's only one person to change," Katie says, "and it's the one you're always with. So it's also convenient." For more information visit thework.com

A woman has never been able to understand why someone would want to be with her. With a little help from Byron Katie, she discovers why she would want to be with herself. For more information visit thework.com

Byron Katie does The Work with a woman judging her own decisions, then discusses cause and effect with a woman who asks questions about the care of the body. Next, a man from California asks, "What if the UCSB shooter had a chance to do inquiry on the thoughts that led him to kill?" Katie says, "Every time we question the thoughts that are the cause of anger and separation, we become kinder human beings." The last caller does The Work with Katie on his fear of a lonely abyss beyond our ordinary life. For more information visit thework.com

To make this quote real for us, Byron Katie uses the example of a woman who has many judgments about her husband. "I don't love him." "I can't stand him." "I'm not attracted to him." "He's obsessive, compulsive, and stressed." "He's selfish, self-centered, and impossible." "He stresses me out." Katie finds turnarounds and examples for these thoughts and invites us to carefully consider our own thoughts when we judge someone. This is how we can set ourselves free from the judgments that cloud our lives. For more information visit thework.com

Niki Seberini from South Africa (http://niki24752.podomatic.com/) interviews Byron Katie and listens in as Katie helps a caller complete a Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet. After questioning some of her thoughts and turning them around, the caller begins to understand her situation. She no longer believes the thought that her partner should be more compassionate, and to her surprise she finds that she can be more compassionate. "The Work is an invitation," Katie says, "to notice who you are without your story." For more information visit thework.com

Jannecke Øinæs http://wisdomfromnorth.com spends an hour with Byron Katie discussing and doing The Work to see how questioning our thoughts can bring us out of the dreamworld and into reality. In other words, they review, in detail, how The Work can bring you freedom. For more information visit thework.com

Listen as Byron Katie talks with Sean Patrick from http://ThatGuyWhoLovesTheUniverse.com, a spiritual seeker and journalist. Together they explore how The Work supports us in loving the universe, even in the midst of tsunamis, global warming, and seemingly insurmountable career challenges. "There's no moment that isn't a state of grace," Katie says. For more information visit thework.com

"I'm sad and disappointed with Gunnar because he criticizes me." While inquiring into a situation with her husband at a checkout counter, a woman discovers that she has been resenting him for years. As she turns the statements around, she begins to see exactly where the criticism is coming from and starts to laugh at statements about her husband that she believed just moments ago. "It's not what people say that upsets us, it's what we hear that upsets us," says Byron Katie. For more information visit thework.com

A woman who is a recovering alcoholic does The Work on her beliefs about daughter's lack of forgiveness. With the help of Byron Katie's patient and incisive questioning, she comes to see that although the alcohol is out of her life, her deeply-ingrained denial of reality has persisted. In this video we see a vivid example of how The Work can help break through denial, as the woman acknowledges the turnaround "I won't forgive me." For more information visit thework.com

Watch as Byron Katie guides a mother step-by-step through a Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet on the death of her daughter. Katie gently helps her to visualize the moment when it really hit her that her daughter was dead. In stillness, the woman revisits this moment and questions her central thought for the Worksheet: "I am devastated because I don't have Hannah." The woman then questions the other thoughts on her Worksheet, and through her questioning begins to find peace. This video contains crystal-clear guidance for those new to The Work, and also for those with some experience of it. For more information visit thework.com

A young man from New Jersey struggles to find his own peace amid the hectic energy of New York City. Katie invites him to meditate on the Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet. As she guides him through inquiry, he realizes that it's his thoughts that are hectic, and he laughs at how silly that is. "The city is there to wake you up, and it's not going to change until you catch up with it," says Katie. "Everything is here to serve your freedom." For more information visit thework.com

A woman is devastated because her fiance has cancelled their wedding, calling her a whore. Through inquiry, her confusion clears as she sees that she is the one who is clinging to the past. When she discovers what actually happened rather than her story of it, her shame and anger change to delight. For more information visit thework.com