Summary of Byron Katie & Stephen Mitchell's Loving What Is, Revised Edition

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 When we stop arguing with reality, we feel balanced and at ease. When we continue to argue with it, we feel tense and frustrated. When we accept reality as it is, action becomes simple, fluid, and fearless.

#2 There are three kinds of business: yours, mine, and God's. If you are mentally in someone else's business, you are not present in your own. To understand the three kinds of business is to be able to stay in your own.

#3 We can’t control our thoughts, but we can control the attachment we have to them. We can make friends with our thoughts, and through inquiry, we can understand them and make them interesting rather than frightening.

#4 When you’re operating on uninvestigated theories of what’s going on, you’re in the dream. When this happens, you may want to test the truth of your theories by doing The Work on them. The Work always leaves you with less of your uncomfortable story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669356691

IRB Media

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Book preview

Insights on Byron Katie & Stephen Mitchell's Loving What Is, Revised Edition

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

When we stop arguing with reality, we feel balanced and at ease. When we continue to argue with it, we feel tense and frustrated. When we accept reality as it is, action becomes simple, fluid, and fearless.

#2

There are three kinds of business: yours, mine, and God's. If you are mentally in someone else's business, you are not present in your own. To understand the three kinds of business is to be able to stay in your own.

#3

We can’t control our thoughts, but we can control the attachment we have to them. We can make friends with our thoughts, and through inquiry, we can understand them and make them interesting rather than frightening.

#4

When you’re operating on uninvestigated theories of what’s going on, you’re in the dream. When this happens, you may want to test the truth of your theories by doing The Work on them. The Work always leaves you with less of your uncomfortable story.

#5

The Work helps us understand the cause and effect of our internal thoughts. When we recognize that a certain thought isn’t true, we naturally move away from it. The Work allows us to explore internal cause and effect.

#6

In inquiry, you put a thought or a story up against the four questions and the turnarounds. You end confusion and experience internal peace, even in a world of apparent chaos. Eventually, realization is experienced automatically, as a way of life.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The first step in The Work is to write down the judgments that are causing your stress. These judgments can be about any situation in your life, past, present, or future. Write down your judgments just the way you think them.

#2

You can write about and inquire into any uncomfortable thought that appears in your mind. When you realize that every stressful moment you experience is a gift that points you to your own freedom, life becomes very kind.

#3

The more you do The Work, the more you become uncensored and petty. Eventually, you can’t find a problem. You’ll be left with just your judgments, which are just as unhelpful.

#4

When you are writing down your thoughts and feelings, just the way they are, with all your suffering and frustration and rage and sadness, you can begin to see them in physical form. Through The Work, you can begin to understand them.

#5

The Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet is designed to help you put your painful stories and judgments into writing. It helps you draw out judgments that might be difficult to uncover otherwise.

#6

Identify what most upsets you about the person you are writing about. Imagine yourself in the situation, and list what you wanted him or her to do.