The Byron Katie Newsletter

October 2008
The Byron Katie Newsletter

Money Worries? Financial Insecurity?

The School

The School for The Work
Los Angeles, California
[Oct. 24 - Nov. 2, 2008].
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Dearest Family,

Someone told me that billionaire Warren Buffett has a saying he repeats over and over again: be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. The interesting thing about Buffett is that he doesn't seem or act fearful or greedy himself. His mind is clear about finances, no matter what the situation is. He just keeps doing his job.

I’ve never experienced a work or money problem that wasn't in fact a thinking problem.

Banks fail. Stock markets crash. Currencies deflate. We lie, bend contracts, and break our promises when we are frightened. In this confused, fearful, state of mind, you can make millions of dollars and still remain fearful, insecure and unhappy.

I used to believe that I needed more money to be happy and secure. Even when I had more than I really needed, I was often sick with the fear that something terrible would happen and I would lose what I had. I realize now that no amount of money is worth that kind of stress or can possibly be the cause of any stress. If you live with the uninvestigated thought “I need my money to be safe and secure,” you’re living in a hopeless state of mind, especially in these financially mind-challenging times.

After I found that no stressful thought was true, I began to notice that I always had the perfect amount of money for me right now, even when I had little or none. Happiness is a clear mind.

A clear and sane mind knows how to live, how to work, what e-mails to send, what phone calls to make, and what to do to create what it wants without fear.

Who would you be without the thought “I need my money to be safe”? You might be a lot easier to be with. You might even begin to notice the laws of generosity, the laws of letting money go out fearlessly and come back fearlessly. I don’t ever need more money than I have, and I invite you to realize the same truth in your life. When you understand this, you begin to realize that you already have all the security you wanted money to give you in the first place. It’s a lot easier to make money from this position.

Those of us who chase after money to find happiness never think we have enough. And in the process we create stress for ourselves and for others around us, as we pass on our unquestioned fears. Sometimes we worry ourselves sick.

Those of us who see money as unspiritual have trouble charging for our services or feel guilty when we do make money. This is the flip side of greed, and it can be just as painful. What illusions we assign to pieces of paper!

Rich or poor, we believe the same stories over and over again. Is it time for you to end your suffering?

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Fear as a Motivating Factor

Some people believe that fear and stress are what motivate them to make money. But can you really know that that’s true? Watch:

Are you sure that without using your fear and stress as motivators, you wouldn’t have the same amount of money, or even more? “I need fear and stress to motivate me” — who would you be if you never believed that story again?

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Money Obligations

Sometimes we make money an obligation. A mother believes that she "has to please" her son by giving him money. Watch:

Financial freedom doesn't have to be about manifesting a newer car or a higher-paying job. It is about being absolutely secure and loving whatever reality brings you, with the freedom to choose the options that are always present, the options that a fearful mind cannot possibly recognize.

The truth is that you're supposed to have exactly as much money as you have right now, in this moment. No more, no less.

How do you know when you're supposed to have more? When you do.

How do you know when you're supposed to have less? When you do.

How do I know that this is true? It is what it is, when it is, until it isn’t, and everything changes.

Realizing this means realizing all our needs are met in every moment. This is true abundance. It leaves you without a care in the world.

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Decisions Based on Fear

Sometimes we make decisions based on fear.

When we're frightened, freedom shuts down and the world seems hostile.

But when you love what is, everything in the world becomes the beloved. Inside and outside always match. The world is the mirror image of our thinking.

Not believing your own untrue thoughts, you're free from the original false desire: the thought that reality should be different than it is right now.

Is it time for you to question your thoughts? To end the fear in your life?

I invite you to reality, to the idea that this apparently troubled economy is nothing more than an opportunity for you to see what internal situations need to be investigated in your mind. This is an opportunity to notice the difference between what is imagination and what isn’t—to notice for yourself, through the four questions and turnarounds, that reality is always kinder than our unquestioned thoughts. In love, I invite you to The Work, to loving what is, to your freer, kinder self.

kt

P.S.- Here's a conversation with someone who's worried that she's not succeeding on their own >>

P.P.S.- A digital download available in our webstore: Panic in the Stock Market >>

The New Book: Available now

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Events

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[Nov 5th - Dec 2nd, 2008 - Ojai, California]
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