Quote:
Originally Posted by Angela  But I'm getting the idea from this book that Katie is inviting us not to believe any of our thoughts, not even the ones that work for us! |
Angela: yes, now I think you're seeing what caused my initial question.
Like I said, I think there's great value in the "4 Questions," but beyond that I think Byron Katie's message can be confusing, and hard to work with. This may simply be miscommunication--maybe her message is easier to "live" than to explain.
The chapter where she discusses the difficult birth of her grandchild, and her attitude is "If the baby dies, that's cool, and if she lives, that's cool, too." I hope someday I can get to a place where I'm that accepting of God's will, but right now, that attitude kinda freaks me out. I don't feel particularly uptight or unspiritual about holding on to the opinion that babies should live, even if it's irrational and ego-based.
Or, in the book, when she's reveling in the sensation of the ants crawling on her, but she's killing some of them and letting others live, and marveling at how mysterious this great ant-filled world is...well, dang, I really didn't know what to bring away from that passage! "Ants should live, but some of them should die, wheeee! Freedom!"
I think the philosophy behind all this is that opinions and desires and identification systems can weigh you down, and I agree. But the way it's presented in the books and videos makes it seem as if all of our ideas and opinions and motivations are inherently wrong-headed. And I can't work with that right now, that doesn't feel liberating so much as kind of deadening.
Even Rational-Emotive psychologists acknowledge that you need to be a little bit irrational in some of your decision-making. I think that's a far more generous and realistic view of things.
And lastly, that quote about desires upthread from
Ask and it is Given hits the nail on the head--it's not yearning, it's visualizing something beautiful, in a way that feels good.