Birthing Spirit

If you know me or have read other parts of this blog you will know that I think that Byron Katie is just the beez neez. I flicked open her book A Thousand Names for Joy last night at this section and I thought that you could replace all the references to the environment and corporate polluters with hospitals and medical staff in relation to birth…

Love is the Power. I know only one way to be an activist who can really penetrate the human race, and that is to give the facts, to tell your experience honestly, and to love without condition. You can’t convince the world of anything, even if it’s for the world’s own good, because eventually your righteousness will be seen through, and then you’re on a stage debating a corporate polluter, and you start pointing your finger in outrage. That’s what you’re been hiding when you believe “I know what’s best for the planet”.

When you attack a corporate official for destroying the atmosphere, however valid your information, do you think he’ll be open to what you’re saying? You’re threatening him with your attitude, and the facts get lost, becuase you’re coming from fear and righteous anger. All he’ll hear is that he thinks you’re doing it wrong, it’s his fault, and he’ll go into denial and resistance. But if you speak to him without stress, in total confidence that everything is just the way it should be in this very moment, you’ll be able to express yourself kindly, effectively, and with no fear about the future.

Violence teaches only violence. Stress teaches stress. If you clean up your mental environment, we’ll clean up our physical one much more quickly. That’s how it works. And if you do that genuinely, without violence in your heart, without anger, without pointing at corporations as the enemy, then people begin to notice. We begin to listen and notice that change through peace is possible. It has to begin with one person. If you’re not the one, who is?

Byron Katie

For those of you who haven’t heard me mention her before (clearly you have never met me), here is Byron Katie doing her thing.

To find out about The Work go to www.thework.com ( where you can find more videos and better examples of Katie facilitating the work with people) or byronkatie.com

Her books include:

• Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life
• I Need Your Love – Is That True?: How to Stop Seeking Love, Approval, and Appreciation and Start Finding Them Instead
• A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things Are (my personal favorite, which is Katie’s commentary on the Tao Te Ching)