March Daily Vibes | Now Power Day 18

Day 18 Law of Attraction Centering Thought

From my place of alignment, I’ll be inspired to achieve wonderful things.

Peace Now Mantra – It’s All-Fine. 

What you do in terms of action is far less important than the thoughts you think, the way you feel, your vibrational balance, or the story you tell.  ~  Abraham

Why not realize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!  ~  Jane Austin


“The Work”

Those of you familiar with spiritual teacher, Katie Byron, know she teaches a process called “the work” that she developed after a transpersonal experience that left her knowing she is joy and love. Katie had become increasingly depressed and sank into rage, despair, and thoughts of suicide. Then one morning she woke up in a state of absolute joy, filled with the realization of how her own suffering had ended. The freedom of that realization was and is her inspiration to teach others how to find that state of being.

Loving Reality

What happens now and now and now is just that, a happening. It is reality. Why is it that you choose to argue with reality Katie asks in her book, Loving What Is and in workshops all over the world? Now Power according to Katie is being a lover of reality. People who have been practicing the inquiry of “the work” for a while often say that it is no longer something they do, it does them. They describe how, without any conscious intention, the mind notices each stressful thought and undoes it before it can cause any suffering. Their internal argument with reality disappears and they find that what remains is love – love for themselves, for other people and for whatever life brings.

Suffering is a Choice

“Suffering is optional,” says Katie. Whenever we experience a stressful feeling – anything from mild discomfort to intense sorrow, rage or despair – we can be certain that there is a specific thought causing our reaction, whether or not we are aware of it. According to Katie, the way to end our stress is to investigate the thinking that lies behind it. Anyone can do it by himself with a piece of paper and pen. The “Work” has four questions that reveal where our thinking isn’t true for us. Through this process, the discovery is made that all the concepts and judgment that we believe or take for granted are distortions of things as they really are. When we believe our thoughts instead of what is really true for us, we experience the kinds of emotional distress that we call suffering. Our emotional guidance system is telling us we are out of sync with our Source. When you do not listen to the guidance and shift the thinking, more distress is created.

Process

“The Work,” is a powerful tool for the job of coming to peace with what is now. This week we suggest the questions of “the work” as the process.

The first step in “The Work” is to write down your judgments about any stressful situation in your life, past, present, or future – about a person you dislike or worry about, a situation with someone who angers or frightens or saddens you, or someone you’re ambivalent or confused about. Write your judgments down, just the way you think and feel them. (That uncomfortable feeling is your guidance system letting you know you are thinking out of sync with your Source.)

The Judge Your Neighbor Worksheet

  1. Who angers or saddens or disappoints you? What is it about them that you didn’t or still don’t like?
  2. How do you want them to change? What do you want them to do?
  3. What is it that they should or shouldn’t do be, think, or feel?
  4. Do you need anything from them? What do they need to give you or do for you to be happy?
  5. What do you think of them? Make a list.

Note: This may be way too much focus on what you do not want. A simple statement of your feeling would do. I feel angry/disappointed/sad that . . .

The Four Questions and Turnaround

  1. Is it true? Ask yourself. Be still. If you really want to know the truth the answer will rise to meet the question.
  2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true? Can I ever really know what is going on within another?
  3. How do you react when you think that thought? Ex: I interrupt, start talking faster and louder.
  4. Who would you be without the thought? Close your eyes and imagine. Take your time. Notice what is revealed to you. What do you see? How does that feel?

Turnaround

Rewrite your original statement. This time, write it as if it were written about you. You may come to see that there are three or four or more turnarounds in one sentence. Or there may be just one or two that feel true for you.

Consider whether or not the turned-around statement is as true as or truer than your original statement. Ex: Ed should be kind to me is turned around as; I should be kind to myself. When I think Ed should be kind to me (and he isn’t), I get angry and resentful, and I cause myself a lot of stress. If I were kind to myself, I wouldn’t have to wait for kindness from others. Or turn it around to – I should be kind to Ed. – that is at least as true as the original statement. Let me begin with myself and act as I’d like Ed to act. He shouldn’t be kind to me, because he isn’t. That’s the reality of it.