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L5P Michelle · 04-16-2007, 02:06 AM

Angela, if you ask Byron Katie what her opinion is on desire, please post the response here!

I was a big fan of manifesting for years. Then, 10 years, ago my sister pointed out something so obvious that I overlooked it completely, "In our family, no one has a problem manifesting what they truly want. The problem is that none of us stays happy for long once we get it!" ... So true. My experience matched a point made in A Course in Miracles: "The ego's game is to seek, but NEVER find."

The Work of Byron Katie helped me see that my constant desire to manifest something in the future always carried a hidden, painful agenda. The hidden agenda was that I believed I was in some state of chronic lack NOW. This belief in lack was just a concept I was attached to, but the concept caused me pain & anxiety. So I would try to fix my stress by slapping another concept on top of that one --the belief I could manifest something "out there" to fix the lack. I kept running in circles with this, until the Work of Byron Katie gently caused me to question the concepts underlying all the activity & gnawing discontent. The Work helped me see that I was always focused on finding my happiness somewhere in the future, someday, which, naturally, implied I didn't have all I needed now. Implicit was the belief, too, that I needed to take control in order to find happiness.

Once Katie's Work helped me became aware of the how that dynamic operated within me, a lot of my unrelenting ambition/attachment appeared to drop away naturally. It's a little disconcerting to me at times, but I have no desire to "get" as much these days. My focus is more on accepting what's in front of me, just as it is. A very different orientation! Maybe it's just a stage, I don't know. I notice that I've been very happy and content for the last few years, so maybe there's a connection?

Katie's work is simple: All resistance is the ego. All love is surrender & acceptance to What Is. The Work is radical and it's simple, but it's not an easy teaching. No genuine spiritual path is, though.

04-16-2007, 02:06 AM	#26 (permalink)
L5P Michelle Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 3	Angela, if you ask Byron Katie what her opinion is on desire, please post the response here! I was a big fan of manifesting for years. Then, 10 years, ago my sister pointed out something so obvious that I overlooked it completely, "In our family, no one has a problem manifesting what they truly want. The problem is that none of us stays happy for long once we get it!" ... So true. My experience matched a point made in A Course in Miracles: "The ego's game is to seek, but NEVER find." The Work of Byron Katie helped me see that my constant desire to manifest something in the future always carried a hidden, painful agenda. The hidden agenda was that I believed I was in some state of chronic lack NOW. This belief in lack was just a concept I was attached to, but the concept caused me pain & anxiety. So I would try to fix my stress by slapping another concept on top of that one --the belief I could manifest something "out there" to fix the lack. I kept running in circles with this, until the Work of Byron Katie gently caused me to question the concepts underlying all the activity & gnawing discontent. The Work helped me see that I was always focused on finding my happiness somewhere in the future, someday, which, naturally, implied I didn't have all I needed now. Implicit was the belief, too, that I needed to take control in order to find happiness. Once Katie's Work helped me became aware of the how that dynamic operated within me, a lot of my unrelenting ambition/attachment appeared to drop away naturally. It's a little disconcerting to me at times, but I have no desire to "get" as much these days. My focus is more on accepting what's in front of me, just as it is. A very different orientation! Maybe it's just a stage, I don't know. I notice that I've been very happy and content for the last few years, so maybe there's a connection? Katie's work is simple: All resistance is the ego. All love is surrender & acceptance to What Is. The Work is radical and it's simple, but it's not an easy teaching. No genuine spiritual path is, though. Last edited by L5P Michelle; 04-16-2007 at 02:15 AM.