I am a lover of what is, not because I'm a spiritual person, but because it hurts when I argue with reality.
Interpretation
Embracing reality can alleviate suffering and foster acceptance.
Byron Katie's quote emphasizes the importance of accepting reality as it is rather than resisting it. The emotional pain that arises from arguing with what is leads to suffering, and by loving reality, one can find peace and a deeper understanding of life.
In practice
This quote could be shared during a mindfulness workshop to emphasize the importance of accepting one’s circumstances.
When you stay present with your children, that’s where abundance is. And when you stay out of their business, that’s where everything you deserve in life is. When you’re in presence, there’s no story, and you are abundance. And you come to trust that space so often that you just eventually hang out as that, because there is nothing that can move you out of it, not even a perceived child or a perceived anything.
It is easy to be swept away by some overwhelming feeling, so it's helpful to remember that any stressful feeling is like a compassionate alarm clock that says, "You're caught in the dream."
We don't attach to people or to things; we attach to uninvestigated concepts that we believe to be true in the moment.
An unquestioned mind is the world of suffering.
Hurt feelings or discomfort of any kind cannot be cause by another person. No one outside me can hurt me. That’s not a possibility. It’s only when I believe a stressful thought that I get hurt. And I’m the one who’s hurting me by believing what I think. This is very good news, because it means that I don’t have to get someone else to stop hurting me. I’m the one who can stop hurting me. It’s within my power.
So, how do you get back to heaven? _x000D_ To begin with, just notice the thoughts that take you away from it. _x000D_ You don't have to believe everything your thoughts tell you. _x000D_ Just become familiar with the particular thoughts you use _x000D_ to deprive yourself of happiness. _x000D_ It may seem strange at first to get to know yourself in this way, _x000D_ but becoming familiar with your stressful thoughts _x000D_ will show you the way home to everything you need.
If women are not perceived to be fully within the structures of power, surely it is power that we need to redefine rather than women?
Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no opposite. Death is the opposite of birth.
...the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.
Wars of aggression are popular nowadays with those nations convinced that only victory and conquest could improve their material well-being.
Some people drift along like a cork on a river, feeling that they cannot do anything except drift, moment to moment. This is an attitude of mind. Everyone can be constructive even in tiny ways.
Then we shall... be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason - for then we would know the mind of God.
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