As I watched the entire "A New Earth Webinar" with Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, I often thought of the similarities between Tolle and Byron Katie. They were both clinically depressed before their parallel awakenings which changed both of them forever.
For most of us, if we are fortunate enough to have a spiritual experience, the effects may last several hours or several days at which time the effects recede and we return to normal everyday consciousness.
For both Eckhart and Katie, the effects of their awakening seemed to stay with them. Katie told Oprah, for instance, that she has never had a bad or depressed day, or even a moment of sadness in twenty-two years.
Tolle said the same thing in Oprah's webinar.
Katie explains that to the extent that any of us believe our thoughts, we suffer accordingly.
When we learn to question our thoughts, we experience immediate release and freedom.
She calls this level of questioning, "The Work."
If I love myself and love my experience and everyone in my life, these thoughts work for me, and do not need to be changed or questioned.
Katie said that love is the highest standard of a balanced mind.
But thoughts like, "He doesn't love me," or "I should lose weight," or "I am a bad person," or "You are a bad person," are thoughts that when held up to the light of Inquiry, simply lose their strength and meaning.
These are the four questions that Byron Katie uses for her process of Inquiry, to each thought that brings suffering:
1) Is it true?
2) Can I absolutely know without doubt that it is true?
3) How do I react when I think that thought?
4) Who would I be without the thought?
Then the thought is turned around.
Katie said that defense is the first act of war. When we ask these questions of our thoughts, a shift occurs, a liberation.
No longer am I concentrating on what other people think, what they are doing, or saying.
In other words, according to Katie, I am focused on minding my own business, not anyone else's business, not even God's business. Figuring out what is right for me is a full time job. Minding my own business takes tremendous focus and concentrate.
Katie said she did not suffer at the time of her mother's death. She dropped her schedule and stayed by her mother's side. As she was dying, Katie looked into her mother's eyes and saw her leave this plane of existence. She did not feel sad, she felt only love. She was fully present for her mother in those last moments, and she said she felt very grateful for the experience.
Oprah went through a mini-session with Byron Katie.
Oprah said she has always struggled with her weight. She had gotten her weight down to where she was comfortable, was exercising and maintaining her weight.
Then she was diagnosed with a thyroid condition and her doctor told her she may as well get used to always being heavy.
Oprah said she believed the doctor, stopped working out, and in retrospect, realized she gave her power over to the doctor when he said those words, "You will always be heavy," instead of defining what it is she wanted for herself and her body.
So Oprah's thought for Inquiry was: "I am sick and tired of always struggling with my weight."
Is this true? Yes.
Can you absolutely know without doubt that this is true? After some thought she said, Well not absolutely.
How do you react when you think the thought, "I am sick and tired of always struggling with my weight?"
Oprah said she was frustrated, always thinking about what she is going to eat, whether she should or shouldn't drink alcohol at a party, feeling obsessed about food.
She says she wants to be a size 10, not size 14.
Is it true that your body is too large? Yes.
Can you absolutely know that it is too large? No can't be absolutely sure because it is large (and that is the reality).
What happens when you believe the thought, "My body is too large?" Oprah said she felt frustration as she compared her body to other bodies, just was frustrated and is sick of it.
How do you react when you believe the thought "My body is too large?" I eat more and am at war with myself.
Who would you be without the thought, "My body is too large?" I go to my closet and put on comfortable cloths that fit and go about my day. I'll eat when I eat. Only one person can be Oprah right here, right now.
Apply this Inquiry to every stressful thought, on paper, to achieve real freedom. Sit with these questions in a state of contemplation. As soon as you argue with it you miss the beauty of the process.
The inner war that arises from resisting what is- is fought on paper, going thoughtfully and honestly through the four questions and the turn around.
My body is too large? What is the turn around?
My body is perfect just the size it is. It serves me. It is not who I really am, the changeless "I," the soul. But I love it exactly as it is.
Another difficult thing for most people is learning to say "No." When people in Oprah's family ask her for money, she may give it to them but doesn't really want to. Katie said there are two parts to saying "no."
I care about you. I see that you may be in trouble. And I have to say, "no."
No one can take advantage of you without your permission. You must take responsibility for your life. You must decide who you want to please: Please yourself and mind your own business.
There is a difference between a prisoner screaming in his cell and the Buddhist monk who, when placed behind the bars of incarceration says, "Thank you."
Our birth right is freedom. Love is the new paradigm.
Self-realization, if lived, is "The Work."
Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and published author of the Prayer Prescription Series. She has been a nurse for 29 years. She believes all of us are healers, but few are willing to own their power. She also believes healing takes place all the time, whether we are conscious of it, or not.
In her report, "22 Keys To Self Healing," she helps you to access your own self-healing potential. You can get it free at her blog. http://katelovingshenk.com/
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