Who would you be without THAT thought?

WhenByron Katie asks the fourth question, "Who would you be without that thought?", many people answer with a possible outcome such as, 'I would be happy' or 'I would be calm and without stress.' However, if you take time to just sit in the question, and let yourself be immersed in it as you would a Zen koan, you will find yourself immersed in spaciousness. That spaciousness is what Candice O'Denver refers to as "Clarity" in the video below. I found this video on the website: http://www.greatfreedom.org/index.html where you may download the pdf file for the book: Clarity in Everyday Life

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Introduction to Clarity - 9.07.10 from Balanced View Candice on Vimeo.

How does this work when you are in the midst of reacting to a painful thought? What can you do when you are in the midst of arguing with what is presenting itself to you? Here are a couple of paragraphs from the book Clarity in Everyday Life (p.119-121) that answers these questions.

"When afflictive states come up, it can be very difficult to recognize the natural ease of our own being, because everything in us is screaming, "No,no, this feels too awful. It can't possibly be part of clarity!" That's the most important time of all to JUST RELAX.

When we relax more and more, we begin to see that all the points of view that appear within the pure view of awareness are our allies instead of our foes. When these appearances appear, we recognize the inherent clarity of awareness. It could be that al of our lives we have been afraid of the afflictive states, but through the clarity of awareness we are now able to see them as old friends. Affictive states are a great support for relying on clarity; however, if we continue to exclude them as if they didn't belong in clarity, then we will be returning to them again and again.

If, for instance, we have a pain in the body and we're focused only on that pain, then that is all we'll see. But if we relax body and mind completely, then we can see this pain that is appearing is nothing other than an appearance of super-intelligence and flawless knowing. If we absolutely insist that we have a pain and it is our pain, then that's the only information we will have, and we won't be able to see it for what it truly is. But one thing is for sure about experiencing pain: it motivates us to look for relief from the pain. This is why afflictive states are our greatest friends. Without them we might never be moved to discover our ultimate nature.

When we get familiar with our ultimate nature, we just feel better all the time. There is no other way to say it; it's not a mysterious or esoteric matter. Our true nature doesn't belong to any kind of category, institution, philosophy or religion. It has never been owned by any country or by any person. We can either get familiar with it--or not. When we do get familiar with it, then we pass completely beyond cause and effect.

We see that all these appearances really are allies, and we have NEVER been at their whim. It's all in what we take them to be. If we take them to be a monster, they will be. If we think we are ruled by them, then we will be. The more we know ourselves as we truly are, the more we see that we really are not affected by the labels we have used to describe everything.

....When the afflictive states arise with great vehemence, we have the choice to either go into them and be ruled by them or to know ourselves as clarity. It we have difficulty in seeing that the afflictive states are nothing other than pure clarity, then that is a good time to seek support. We should go to people who have integrated their own negative points of view, because these are the only people who can truly help us."

and from p.122...

Let's say that something happens that has caused us to get very angry in the past. The real breakthrough of true clarity comes when we're right in the middle of the anger, and we really get it--firsthand and right away--that everything is included in clarity. When we can face anger or any other afflictive emotion squarely, exactly as it is, allowing naked seeing from within, that releases tremendous energy to be able to really see things for what they are."

The Incredible Grace of the Oneness Blessing

The Oneness Blessing is a transfer of energy which initiates journey into higher states of consciousness and triggers one's spiritual evolution. The blessing is passed on by a Facilitator that who was specially trained by monks at the Oneness University in southern India. this laying on of hands over the crown chakra works

to quiet the parietal lobes which are responsible for the feeling of being "separate". It also opens the frontal lobe which allows us to feel bliss and communion with the Divine. In addition to shifting the physical brain, the blessing also gently moves into the heart and causes it to flower. Recipients of the blessing report experiencing higher states of awareness and greater connection with God.

One of the lovely things about the Blessing is that little by little some space begins to happen between a thought and your reaction to that thought. This little gap gradually gets bigger and one day you notice you are experiencing your world from a calm, balanced place of a peaceful heart!

There is a beautiful chant that we sing just before we pass on this blessing to others. It is called the Moola Mantra. Just listening to this chant is very healing because its vibration is so high. It is sung in the sanscrit language and it means:

We honor the Divine Compassionate God

We honor the God Within

We honor the feminine aspect of the Divine

and We honor the masculine aspect of the Divine. And to all these aspects we bow and give homage that we may realize the Divinity Within.

The End of Suffering

Have you ever found yourself struggling with stressful thoughts that keep coming at you like a ping pong ball? You may have tried meditation, yoga, prayer, or even eliminated caffeine in the hopes of quieting your mind. If you are still searching for relief, read on. There is an amazing process being taught all over the world today: The Work of Byron Katie. This simple method of self-inquiry was birthed onto the planet with the awakening of Byron Katie, a spiritual innovator of our time. Katie, as she likes to be called, has written several books, but is most famous for Loving What Is. She travels all over the globe and has helped thousands of people to eliminate stress from their lives by questioning their thoughts. Katie says “when you believe your thoughts you suffer and when you question them, you don’t suffer… there is no other choice.”

Back in the late 70’s Katie plummeted into a deep depression, raging at her family and conducting any necessary business from her bedroom. After almost 10 years of this suffering, she checked herself into a halfway house in LA and slept on the floor next to the bed, she had so much self-loathing. One morning in February 86, she woke up without any concepts of who or what she was. “There was no me,” she said. In place of all that darkness and gloom was pure joy and the realization that the only suffering on the planet was simply confusion and resulted from believing ones’ thoughts.

How does the work ‘work’? You begin by noticing when you have an uncomfortable feeling. It could be very slight or radically painful. Then you locate the thought you are believing in the moment. For example: My boss thinks I’m stupid. You write this on paper. (Katie says, "All war belongs on paper!") Next, you ask yourself the four questions and give yourself the space to go into your heart and let the answer find you. This is contemplative meditation.

1. Is it true?

2. Can you absolutely know it’s true?

3. How do you react when you believe this thought?

4. Who would you be without this thought?

Be gentle with yourself and question the thought lovingly, like you would treat a little child. The last step is called the “turnaround”. This is where you write down the opposite of your original thought: My boss thinks I’m smart. Another one is: I think my boss is stupid. Notice that the mind would prefer to be right rather than happy, so it may take some searching to find a genuine example! Be honest with yourself… you have nothing to lose but your suffering! A third opposite would be: I think I’m stupid. How often do you think the same thing your boss is thinking? Could it be you are in agreement? This is unity…. this is the end of war. Practice the work and become the peace you wish to see in the world!