Love is the power podcast

This week on Love Is The Power, the group explores the idea of condemnation. Most of us can relate to believing in condemnation as a basic fact of the Universe, whether we learned it through a religion, punishments as children, or simply noticing the general consensus among humans that life is just hard. But could it be that sense of hardship is a projection that comes from this belief originally? How do we treat ourselves and others when we believe that we can be condemned in any way at all? If we don’t like our experience when we believe it, might it be worth experimenting with inquiry on this thought in order to discover our real nature, and the real nature of Life itself? Feel free to follow along and question the concept of condemnation!

This week we’re bringing back to you an old favourite: You may have heard Byron Katie talk about the three types of business: your business, my business, and God’s business. This week’s episode dives deeply into this notion and asks whether anything at all is actually "your business." In other words, do you make any of your thoughts, feelings, decisions, or experiences happen? Notice the response that arises within you: Whether you embrace or reject this question, did you will that response to happen or did it just appear? As you explore and unravel the fears, beliefs, and conclusions you’re holding onto around control, you may just get in touch with how all business is ultimately God’s business. That is, as Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it, how “our painful labors are unnecessary” and that “only in our easy, simple, spontaneous action are we strong.” Tom would call this having a “yes” to life.

This week’s group inquiry is on the fear of being boring. Whether with friends, partners, or ourselves, a lot of us can probably relate to this fear. What if somebody thinks I’m boring? What does it mean to be boring? A rich inquiry emerges around the idea of just being, something the mind tends to be terrified of. What if, underneath the panicked action and frazzled doing that can come from the fear of appearing boring, there is a simple-yet-profound peace in just being? Could it be possible that allowing ourselves to just be actually sparks something very interesting in us? Uncover the fascinating truth of who you (and those around you) are by following along in this group meditation facilitated by Tom.

This week’s episode is an exploration of true compassion and unconditional love, revolving around the topic of abusers. As an example, when we see a person abuse an animal, it’s easy and understandable to become upset by it. We mentally hold that person responsible, and we probably think they should be punished. And doesn’t that just seem fair? Right, even? But if we get really honest and take a good look at our thinking in that moment, are we not just inflicting more abuse on another being in the world? Even if it’s only in our mind? A participant asks in this meditation about whether The Work points to a kind of power in helplessness. Tom points out that the real helplessness is when we see a situation we can’t change and we try to use our willpower to force it to be different. If that’s true, could it be that the real power lies in questioning our stressful thoughts?

In this Part II episode on the theme of romantic relationships, following last week’s profound inquiry on the idea of unattractiveness, a couple works with Tom on a common pitfall that occurs in committed relationships: trying to control what your partner does and how they show up. Many of us can relate to this, even outside partnerships. Parents, children, friends…there’s a whole variety of relationships to be had that the mind will try to control in order to feel safe. This episode peels back the deeper layers of fear behind that need to control, and ultimately leads to the place Byron Katie says we arrive at when we stop opposing reality: somewhere kind, loving, and peaceful. Feel free to follow along using your own relationship (any kind will do!) and see where it takes you.