Byron Katie on Confusion

I really like Katie’s perspective on the concept of confusion: Katie attributes confusion to a person holding onto wrong beliefs. This is what causes people to make wrong choices: they have fixed ideas of what should and should not happen; what other people should or should not do and how they ought to behave. These belief continue with how other people should treat them; what they deserve; a decision that they should have made in the past; and so on.

Basically, confusion is the product of arguing with reality. One of the ways in which we argue with reality is that we mentally get into other people’s business or we get into God’s business. Katie’s definition of “God” is “what is” or “reality” or “everything”. Therefore, when we mentally get into God’s business, we are trying to control what is outside of our responsibility.

Being a Christian, I believe in God as being a spirit, not only that, but the creator of the universe. I appreciate that not everyone in the releasing or inquiry communities does not see God the way others do: they see God in the same way as Byron Katie. I’m willing to accept that in the pursuit of finding common ground with those who practice releasing and inquiry. I cannot impose my spiritual beliefs on other people and I believe that we all have to be allowed to progress in our spiritual beliefs in our own way and at our own pace. Although I would like for everyone reading this blog to consider looking into the type of Christianity that I believe and follow - the purpose of this blog is to journal my experiences with releasing and inquiry and to convey my convictions of how all these belief systems relate to one another.

I have never heard the subject of confusion taught in this way before. But I must say, this concept of confusion is precisely how I have experienced it in my own life - which makes Katie’s teaching very refreshing for me. I found that I would become terribly confused whenever I felt stressed as a result of arguing with reality in my mind. Before I learned about inquiry, I suppose I just never knew how to put a stop to those thoughts. I just assumed that there was something wrong with me or that I needed to do or attain something that would bring me into a state of peace. I did not begin to think for one moment that it was these efforts to change my life that were most likely the main cause of the anxiety in my life.

One of my biggest struggles in life has been in the office workplace. A thought would come to me that would assert my right to be respected more by my managers and work-colleagues. I just thought that it was my right to believe that I deserved greater respect. But whenever I believed that thought, I would experience anger, frustration, a sense of worthlessness and a barrage of negative thoughts. I would then struggle to do my job because I would become so confused. I would start making silly mistakes and would even struggle to make the smallest of decisions. But what kept this stress and confusion alive for so long was the Christian and self-help message that asserted the “right” for people to claim, attract and control wealth and power in their life.