Loving What Is, Revised Edition: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life; The Revolutionary Process Called "The Work

To think that I know what’s best for anyone else is to be out of my business. Even in the name of love, it is pure arrogance, and the result is tension, anxiety, and fear. Do I know what’s right for me? That is my only business. Let me work with that before I try to solve your problems for you.

When you wake up to reality, life becomes effortless, because there’s no fear left in you. Your mind can’t project a future. You don’t have to know what to do; you just do it. You realize that you’re not the doer, that the creative mind, the wisdom of the universe, is what’s running the show. God is another name for the nameless: reality, the kind,

Since the beginning of time, people have been trying to change the world so that they can be happy. This hasn’t ever worked, because it approaches the problem backward. What The Work gives us is a way to change the projector—mind—rather than the projected. It’s like when there’s a piece of lint on a projector’s lens. We think there’s a flaw on the

Depression, pain, and fear are gifts that say, “Sweetheart, take a look at what you’re thinking right now. You’re living in a story that isn’t true for you.”

You’re either attaching to your thoughts or inquiring. There’s no other choice.

Inquiry: The Four Questions and the Turnarounds Is it true? (Yes or no. If no, move to question 3.) Can you absolutely know that it’s true? (Yes or no.) How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought? Who or what would you be without the thought? And Turn the thought around. Then find examples of how each turnaround is true for you i

Suffering is a natural alarm, warning us that we’re attaching to a thought; when we don’t listen, we come to accept the suffering as an inevitable part of life. It’s not.

The Work reveals that what you think shouldn’t have happened should have happened. It should have happened because it did happen, and no thinking in the world can change it. This doesn’t mean that you condone it or approve of it. It just means that you can see things without resistance and without the confusion of your inner struggle.

Thoughts are like the breeze or the leaves on the trees or the raindrops falling. They appear like that, and through inquiry we can make friends with them. Would you argue with a raindrop? Raindrops aren’t personal, and neither are thoughts. Once a painful concept is met with understanding, the next time it appears, you may find it interesting. Wha