A Mind at Home with Itself audiobook

This is one of the deepest books by Byron Katie. She uses personal examples from her experiences, opening up like never before. If you’re new to The Work (Katie’s technique—four questions and a turnaround), I wouldn’t necessarily recommend starting off with A MIND AT HOME WITH ITSELF.As far as non-dual teachings go, Katie is about as radical as they come, with the exception, perhaps, of Tony Parsons.What I love about Katie is that she provides more than some theoretical discussion on non-duality. She offers a clear practice in the form of what she refers to as “The Work.”This is the experiential side of everything she talks about, and it is for everyone, even kids, if they are open to it.The Work can be used (or seen) as a self-help technique, or it can be used as a big step in the direction of spiritual freedom.While Katie does give an example or two of applying The Work, the practical aspect is not the focus of this book as it is with most of the other books she’s written. A MIND AT HOME WITH ITSELF describes in intimate detail the experience that is the freedom revealed through The Work.It is similar in many ways, to a previous book she has written, A THOUSAND NAMES FOR JOY. Both books offer Katie’s interpretation of ancient texts translated by her husband, Stephen Mitchell.Whereas A THOUSAND WORDS FOR JOY examines excerpts from the Tao Te Ching, A MIND AT HOME WITH ITSELF probes one of the crown jewels of Buddhism, The Diamond Sutra.This book knocks it out of the park, it really does.

I struggle with this one. On one hand, I disagree with the idea that nothing exists. I believe in universal truth-that things exist. But on the other hand, so much of reality is interpreted through the lense of our mind. The glass is either half full or half empty. The four questions seem like an extremely important way to determine what thoughts are stressing you out. I have used these questions a few times in my life since picking up this book and found it immensely helpful. So it’s odd but even though I disagree with the main premise “nothing exists”, I found myself really enjoying this book. And maybe that’s the point.

Byron Katie walks through an accessible translation of the Diamond Sutra using practical examples of how the transforming beliefs in our thinking is what the ancient wisdom encourages us to do. A wonderful book. Both the author's insights and the translation of the Sutra. Have listened to multiple times. Great work. Highly recommend

Loved that Katie is going deeper into "enlightenment" and freedom. More good examples of The Work in action and also Katie's experience of Waking up in Barstow.I will read this again, Or more likely, listed to the audio book again. Inspirational.

Incredible! Thank you, Byron Katie for sharing The Work with the world. I don't know what life would be like without it!

I read this book very slowly, enchanted with the messages. Every time a bell rang inside me and the feeling of “that’s it” wrapped me like a warm blanket, I closed the book and turned to sleep. I slept soundly ever since reading one chapter every night.Katie has a special super-power: she speaks to your soul, bypassing all mind, intellect and memory layers. It goes deep. What she says is more than the sutra itself and yet, less than complicated explanations for information that is already within you, just waiting to come up.Did I “finish” this book? No. Ever. This one has been nominated the one I will read a couple of pages before closing my eyes at night. The feeling of gratitude I have after every chapter is so precious!

Oh my gosh! Byron Katie is my new favorite person! A Mind at Home with Itself has changed my life in how I view my life problems. 1st: Is it true? 2nd: Can you absolutely know it's true? 3rd: How do you react—what happens—when you believe that thought? 4th: Who would you be without the thought? Byron Katie created these 4 questions, which she believes can solve all of our problems.The major premise of her philosophy is that suffering is caused when reality does not meet what we want or expect. "My coworker doesn't respect me." "My husband doesn't love me." "My daughter doesn't listen to me." "My mother judges me." What we want is my coworker to respect me, my husband to love me, my daughter to listen to me, and my mother to stop judging me. Well, first, we must ask ourselves, are any of these things true? Maybe they are not even true, but we are creating a narrative in our mind of what is reality that is not actually reality. It could be true though. If it is true, we must then ask ourselves, can we absolutely know it is true? Could there be something we are missing? Maybe we are not seeing the full picture. It may be hard to prove our thoughts. And when we open ourselves up to the possibility that our thoughts are not true, it can be a very freeing experience. Next we must feel how we feel with the thought, and then how we feel without the thought. When I think this thought I feel angry, my fist clenches, I want to scream, I want to run away. Without the thought I feel calm, I feel loving, I feel accepting. Processing all of this can be very therapeutic and very freeing.Another premise of Byron Katie's philosophy is nothing is real and nothing really matters. She thinks of the world as a dream. When things happen, they aren't even real. This might sound scary, but to her it is very freeing. If nothing really matters, then we can do whatever we want. How amazing life can be when we don't limit ourselves. In the end, whether we are rich or poor, happy or sad, healthy or unhealthy, we all die. We can spend all our lives trying to be perfect, but we can get hit by a bus the next day. Life happens, death happens, and all are a beautiful thing. When death does not even seem scary anymore, what can hold us back? I think importantly though, Byron Katie comes from a place of love. She never preaches nothing matters so let's go ahead and make the world miserable and be selfish. She preaches that in the end love always wins. But that's just her. If you choose to be an asshole, she doesn't really care because that is your choice. Who is she to decide what you should and should not do? Life is beautiful when people are free to choose what they think is best for them.Lastly, I should probably mention that this book includes a translation of the Diamond Sutra by Stephen Mitchell. I believe he translated the Chinese text. It is quite confusing, but there are gems of wisdom. The Diamond Sutra really is incomprehensible on the first reading, but I believe additional readings could prove enlightening.I plowed through this book, although this is probably a book that would benefit from you taking your time. The book also includes many personal stories, which I found enlightening. The stories highlight how Byron Katie's work actually works in practice. Love that! Her other books are more of the same. More people, more stories. I really like this book though. I recommend it if you are thinking of upgrading your life.

Het uitgangspunt dat een verontrustend gedachte een uitnodiging tot zelfonderzoek en groei is, voelt bevrijdend. Door dit aan de hand van de diamantsoetra - een uitgebreide meditatie over onzelfzuchtigheid - te onderzoeken, wordt een mooie brug geslagen tussen Iris Murdoch afscheid van het dikke Ik en boeddhisme. Tussen radicale empathie en ruimhartigheid. Hoe meer je zelfgevoel oplost in het licht van bewustheid, hoe ruimhartiger je natuur wordt. De sleutel: als je een gedachte gelooft die in strijd is met de werkelijkheid, ben je de weg kwijt; ervaar je stress, pijn, ongemak. Als je die gedachte onderzoekt en ziet dat ze niet waarbij, ben je daarop ‘verlicht’; ervan bevrijd. Als je een pijnlijke gedachte met begrip en nieuwsgierigheid benaderd, zal die je loslaten. Dus: de weg naar verlichting? Als een gedachte pijn doet, onderzoek haar dan. Stel haar vier vragen. Do the Work. Als je je verhaal over jezelf loslaat, sta je in de leermodus. En zolang je in je verhaal gelooft, sta je in de pijnmodus. Met elk gerealiseerd (bevraagd en losgelaten pijnlijke gedachte) wordt de goedheid van alle dingen zichtbaar.Gevoelens van woede en verdriet bestaan alleen om je alert te maken op het feit dat je je eigen verhalen gelooft. En je oordeel over een ander, is een uitvergroting van je eigen vertroebelde gedachte.Als je dit onderzoek echt omarmt, eindigt elke gedachte met een vraagteken, en niet met een punt. Omdat je begrijpt dat andere mensen onmogelijk het probleem kunnen zijn, maar dat jouw gedachten over hen het probleem zijn. Niet-onderzochte gedachten zijn de oorzaak; emoties zijn het gevolg. The Work onthult jezelf aan jezelf. Stressvolle gedachten zijn mentale bolwerken. Het kost tijd en vraagt geduld die te ontmantelen. Daarom zijn meditatie en stilheid zo belangrijk voor het onderzoek, zeker voor beginners. Het bevragen van je stressvolle gedachte is moeilijk - maar het is veel moeilijker om het niet te doen. De keus is: ga je er nú bewust mee aan het werk, of laat je je er steeds opnieuw door overspoelen?Wat troost biedt: elke keer als je een stressvolle gedachte onderzoekt, wordt je een helderder, milder mens. Stukje bij beetje wordt het leven eenvoudiger en rust je denken in een vrede waarvan je niet wist dat die bestond. Je relaties worden makkelijker en gelukkiger.The Work gaat niet over totale onthechting maar juist over radicale verbinding. In die zin is er ook veel te zeggen voor monogamie: omdat je geest op één persoon gefocust blijft, moet je alles wat je over hem gelooft onderzoeken. Je partner zal elk concept aanstippen dat binnen de mensheid heeft gecirculeerd, in alle combinaties, zodat je jezelf kunt gaan kennen en kunt gaan beseffen dat jij de Schepper bent van al het lijden. Als je simpelweg kunt leren om te houden van degene met wie je bent, sta je oog in oog met zelfliefde.

This book is difficult to understand and grasp for the mind that identify things. I prefer her other book, “A Thousand Names for Joy: Living in Harmony with the Way Things are.”It is good to know about Byron Katie’s view and interpretation of the Diamond Sutra.I believe the next time I read this book, I would see and understand more.The cause of our suffering is believing our thoughts, our stories. Thoughts are the cause. Emotions are the effects.To sum it up, we don’t see things and people for what and who they are, respectively. “People can’t possibly be your problem, it’s your thoughts about them that are the problem.”“When you tell yourself a story about how reality is supposed to look, you end up arguing with reality. Reality is what is. If you argue with reality, you lose 100% of the time.”“You see and hear only from the perspective of your own world.”“Notice that the thoughts & images in your mind are pure imagination.”“Be free rather than be right.”I strongly believe that if everyone do The Work, the world would be a better place because we would. be free. Question your thoughts and turn them around.

Byron Katie is a radical thinker. After an intense personal spiritual experience which changed her outlook on life, she developed a philosophy strongly influenced by Buddhism. Her practical inquiry method called The Work is designed to help our minds dissolve the suffering which is an inevitable outcome of dual thinking. I don’t expect this book to be for everyone. However, you can’t but admire the author’s unrelenting emphasis on monistic thinking (there is no self and other, in fact there is not even a ‘self’; there is only ‘nothing’, which from what I understand, is not a bad thing at all). A major thread running throughout the book is The Work, a powerful method capable of transforming minds. I would imagine that, used correctly, it can become an essential tool in any mindset coaching toolkit. Katie’s consistency and clarity of mind, which is the result of her own detailed self-inquiries over the years, shines throughout this book. Perhaps she is the living example that The Work can indeed transform lives.

** spoiler alert ** The is a lot more than a book about Buddhism, it is a book on how to find it. Each chapter begins with a quote from the Diamond Sutra, follows with the author’s comments on a specific topic, and ends with a Q&A between the author and the reader. As the book progresses Katie shares more about her life and how she found the process she is recommending - The Work. It is a fascinating read of self discovery. There are also several chapters where Katie does The Work on random people as part lf her seminars around the work and the effect this has on the people.I would recommend this book especially if your mind is uncontrolled. If you have stressful thought and you believe in them. The Work will show you a way out.What I took from the book was the turnarounds. Your thoughts are nothing more than that. By questioning them and trying to turn them around you gain insight into your thinking process. Even more, you can unravel the thoughts and stop believing them.

I'm a major fan. Lots of Buddhist references {title: The Diamond Sutra} that made my brain bend (which I like). Kind of a spoiler (but not really, because she talks of this moment almost every time she is interviewed somewhere): This work is a deep exploration which was catapulted by the moment she woke on the floor of a rehab center and noticed the bug crawling near her face. That split second of consciousness without judgment, she was totally and completely free from her misery... An epiphany opened up to her mind; her suffering -all suffering- was coming from our thoughts.