When the Work Doesn’t Seem to Work – Part 1

I would say that after many years of pursuing spiritual development and using various self-help methods, I have to admit that The Work of Byron Katie seems to be the most effective method I have encountered so far.

I have experienced the disappointment that inevitably results when a charismatic, writer, speaker or spiritual leader gives people amazing anecdotes, formulas and principles – which don’t seem to work for me.

Self help methods such as The Work and The Sedona Method take a different approach to the typical affirmation based methods, which promise wealth, power and control over ones life circumstances. Most people come to The Work and The Sedona Method after spending years pursuing popular self-help and spiritual pursuits, which promise the attainment of goals, but do not deliver. There is an inevitable sense of frustration when a person finally comes to the point whereby they realise that these attractive principles and formulas just don’t work. But this point of frustration and disappointment can be a great place to be in that they graduate from wrong motives and ideals. It’s at this point that a person can begin to wholeheartedly and passionately embrace Releasing or Inquiry.

When a person begins to see the value of Releasing or Inquiry, the sense of disappointment that previous spiritual pursuits brought, can give way to a sense of relief as they finally realise the sheer value of making the attainment of peace their only goal.

The great thing about Releasing and Inquiry is that once you grasp the basics, you find that you are able to experience results almost immediately. However, whilst these methods deliver a quick, short-term effect – the more permanent, long term effects are a different thing entirely. It is quite easy to become rather despondent as the same anxieties and wants seem to spring-back at you once you have released them or questioned them.

The long-term effects of Releasing and Inquiry seem to be a lot more subtle than the life-changing goals that many of us were encouraged to pursue, through methods such as The Secret and The Law of Attraction or even Christian Word of Faith. We all want to achieve goals that provide us with visible, tangible feedback that we are loved and we are finally getting something right. We want the promotion and pay-rise at work to validate our hard work spent at the office, factory, shop or wherever. We want the $5000-through-releasing-only to let us know that our efforts with releasing are finally paying-off and to make us feel that bit more secure. We want to see some sort of landmark change in our lives, money, relationships, job-title or whatever, that lets us know that the latest spiritual or self-help method we have put so much time and energy into, actually works.