Who Would You Be Without Your Story? Dialogues with Byron Katie

This book is a collection of 23 dialogues with Byron Katie that occurred throughout the united States and Europe. Some of the people who worked with Katie had painful illnesses, others were lovelorn or in messy divorces, some were simply irritated with a co-worker or worried about money. What they all had in common was a willingness to question, with Katie's help, the painful thoughts that are the true cause of all suffering. In every case we see how Katie's acute mind and fierce kindness helped each person dismantle for themselves what was felt to be unshakable reality.Although these dialogues make fascinating reading--some are both hilarious and deeply moving at once--they are intended primarily as teaching tools. Each took place in front of an audience, and Katie never lost connection with that audience, repeatedly reminding each person in the room to follow the dialogues inwardly and ask themselves the questions the participant must ask. The dialogue between Katie and these volunteers is an external enactment of precisely the kind of dialogue each person can have with their own thoughts. The result, even in the seemingly most dire situation, can be an unimagined freedom and joy.

Since 1986, Byron Katie has introduced The Work directly to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world at free public events; in prisons, hospitals, churches, corporations, universities, and schools; at weekend intensives; and at her nine-day School for The Work. She is the author of the best-selling books Loving What Is, I Need Your Love—Is That True?, and A Thousand Names for Joy.