In the Presence of the Master - a Retreat in The Work of Byron Katie

(This is the second part of a three-part series. Part 1 is available here)

 

I reached early and sat down for meditation enveloped by the energy, and love that was palpable in the room even before Katie entered.

I had imagined this moment – tears, overwhelm, a shriek of awe. However, when she entered, I was normal – simply happy – like seeing an old friend after a long time. She walked in with all her 80+ years of beauty and wisdom, looking younger and fitter than ever. I chided myself, for not providing “a more appropriate” reaction, and smiled at the ignorance. Even after being in the presence of the Master, the ego had complaints to contend with. 😊

The Center for The Work at Ojai, that envelopes us with its energy and love

The Prayer for Presence and the Transmission from the Master

This was my fourth time attending a School or retreat directly with Katie – either at Los Angeles or Ojai, and I was already a regular practitioner of The Work. I remembered feeling like a “kindergartener” during the First school and other triggers that happened at subsequent ones.

I feared that I would not learn anything new, fall asleep because of jet lag, or worse– create a mental drama that would block me.

An internal prayer arose in response: -

“Can I look at this moment fresh - as if hearing/ seeing everything for the first time?” - in other words - stay open to the transmission without the baggage of knowledge, concepts or even the experience that I already have. And miraculously my turmoil settled, and the magic began.

Sometimes the heart writes its wisdom before the mind can catch up

By grace, I was completely awake and present throughout the day. While I cannot reveal specifics of the workshop to honour the Intellectual Property of Byron Katie, there were many rich learnings for me.

I was able to go back to being a beginner and absorb new things or perspectives around the same technique. Katie and her wisdom are always original because SHE is always in the Now. I was becoming different over the years too, and more porous – thanks to The Work.

Doing The Work regularly included working on many “One belief at a time” and “Judge Your Neighbour” worksheets. I rarely wrote the “Complaints list” anymore. It was good to come back to it and notice the guilt for complaints on my loved ones, and righteousness for “others.”

I had the privilege of witnessing Katie facilitating many participants who were new to The Work. I got so many takeaways that I decided to write them out in a new blogpost. This is particularly relevant to my stage of life - as I am introducing The Work to newcomers and facing challenges and successes. It gently reminded me of the obstacles that a beginner’s mind faces and how I can be available to help.

Katie blew us all away with her magnetic radiance – it felt like she was facilitating and answering questions for the first time ever.

She asked participants to be patient with themselves, patient with the ego, for it was a scared toddler.

When life hands you your homework

As is usually the case with Katie’s retreats, epiphanies, and “life lessons” also happened beyond the event.

There was a small homework for the next day. But when I reached the hotel, my mental chatter was going strong with thoughts about planning the arduous journey back home the next day including how I would reach the center without my bicycle since I had to check out of the hotel in the morning itself. It still amazes me how the mind can travel at such lightning speed from joy and gratitude to stress and fear.

Before I noticed, it was time for bed, and I could not bring myself up to write the homework worksheet. Since I had written worksheets on the flight to LA, I decided to “reuse” them, since I had not worked them out yet, and put them in my bag before going to sleep.

I woke up at 4 am, in a funk, and having called home, got one worksheet after another which I kept writing furiously until it was time to get ready to leave. Today I was more tired and sleepy and found myself nodding off at the session. I just trusted the teaching nevertheless, whether I was conscious of it, or not.

I shared my experience with Katie when she asked about our homework – that while my mind resisted a single worksheet, the universe instead found a way to make me write three.

The 4 am Worksheet Frenzy

Katieisms are a thing, and so are Cuteeisms

During the morning meditation at the center, I found myself crying and grieving over what would happen after she died. This journey arose from the suggestion that this could perhaps be her last in-person retreat and the gratitude and gravity of it felt immense.

As love would have it, a participant asked about the grief of losing her, and Katie asked her to close her eyes and imagine her. “There, that’s it. No one can leave us ever if we have them in our minds.”

Apart from a good dose of Katiesms, there were also “Cuteeisms” - from the youngling that Katie can often become.

A participant who was being facilitated spoke about “eating a frog in the morning” - alluding to tackling a challenging task first thing. Katie had not heard the idiom, and with her quintessential curiosity inquired about the kind of frog and why one would eat it in the morning :) She really wanted to know 😊We all laughed reveling in that child-like innocence.

Another participant asked her - do you not fear anything? And she paused, thought about it, and responded that “nothing came up now, and if it does it would be a worksheet.”

We were all onto “something beautiful” in the presence of the Master. Nothing was off limits. Not even God. As “Cutie” often quips, “God doesn’t mind 😊"    

To be continued in Part 3 – What I learnt from Katie on holding freshers in The Work

Sign up at the end of this page to read Part 3 of this Series, and to read my reflections in general :)

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