A Course in Miracles and The Work of Byron Katie
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"It is only in darkness and in ignorance that you perceive the frightening, and shrink away from it to further darkness. And yet it is only the hidden that can terrify, not for what it is, but for its hiddenness. The obscure is frightening because you do not understand its meaning. If you did you would be clear and you would no longer be in the dark...The hidden is kept apart, but value always lies in joint appreciation. What is concealed cannot be loved, so it must be feared."
Yes. Only in darkness (uninvestigated belief) do I experience terror, distrust, rejection, unworthiness and want to run away, and avoid the person and feelings I believe is causing my suffering. The obscure is frightening because I have put meaning on something and I do not see I have done this. I do not see in that moment that this person is simply showing me my yet univestigated judgments against myself. ("You never hate your brother for his sins, but only for your own.") Here is the secret that the ego does not want you to know, for here is the end of the ego. It is not the thing you hide that hurts you. It is the hiddenness. Whatever you fear people finding out about you, any shame, for anything you have ever done or not done, any imagined source of guilt on your part is not the problem. If you will bring it into the light--identify it clearly, 100%-- every speck of it--every tiny hateful thought about it...Love will show you its innocence. This is The Work. Oh people, do you see how your happiness lies in the exact opposite of everything you have been believing? (Run, hide, avoid ugliness. Focus, pretend, strive to be good and loving and think loving thoughts...) The truth here is obscure, because we think our safety and happiness lie in a lie--what we are believing. As we find out in The Work, who we are "without the thought" actually feels kinder. The thought does not give me love, but fear. What I keep hidden from myself and you--what I am ashamed of and think you will judge me for cannot be loved. Identify the thought, the feelings, the reactions--sit for as long as it takes and notice the effects of believing a thought and the thought will leave of its own accord because in the light, I see exactly what is going on. I see clearly this thought does not give me Heaven, but only hell. It is not the thing that is hidden that terrifies, but only the hiddenness, the running away, itself. Hiding reinforces the belief there is danger. "Is it true?" is the invitation to light--the end of hiddenness and therefore, pain. "Be honest, not spiritual." Byron Katie |
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