A study guide

Lunatic · November 29, 2025

Hello everyone.

I'd like to share my notes.

https://mega.nz/folder/h5pG3Dia#6K7_dyn22-W5dR9C2MauHg

See `README__.md`.

Lunatic · March 12

A Summary of Awakening

“Each of us is the only one there is. There’s no other!” (Katie and Mitchell 2017, chap. 1, 2)
“So I read the Bible from beginning to end and really understood the original meaning, most of which has gone out of the Bible by reinterpretations again and again. And then I looked at the schools of metaphysics, theosophy, went through all of them so I'd have the language of communication. Then I realized after going through all that, simple English will do it.” (‭“Lester Levenson, Hale Dwoskin - Lester Levenson (Sedona Method) Magnum Opus PDF-Lester Levenson _ Sedona Method (2024).pdf”, 103)
Lester Levenson, Byron Katie and the Pali Canon are the sources on awakening or enlightenment, the end of stress/suffering, etc. that I find most authoritative.
By awakening I mean what Levenson describes in his biography, Lloyd 1983, _Choose Freedom: Have, Be, and Do Whatever You Will or Desire_, chapters 11, 12, 13 and 14. (Lloyd 1983, _Choose Freedom: Have, Be, and Do Whatever You Will or Desire_, https://archive.org/details/choose_freedom
Laura Lucille, “About My Teacher”, https://lauralucille.org/blog-eng-featured/my-teacher-lester-levenson-laura-lucille
“Also, when you wake up you’ll discover that you never ever were apart from your real Self, which is whole, perfect, complete, unlimited; that all these experiences were images in your mind just like in a night dream you imagine everything that’s going on. But while you’re in a night dream, it’s real to you. If someone is trying to kill you in a night dream, it’s real; you’re struggling for your life. But when you wake up from that dream, what do you say? “It was just a dream; it was my imagination.” This waking state is exactly as real as a night dream. We’re all dreaming we are physical bodies; we’re dreaming the whole thing. However, in order to reach this awakened state, it is first necessary to drop a major, part of your subconscious thinking.” (Levenson 1993, 317)
_The Essential Lectures Of Alan Watts. Internet Archive,_ https://archive.org/details/02.theessentiallecturesofalanwattsego/05.+The+Essential+Lectures+of+Alan+Watts-+Cosmic+Drama.mp4. 6 min., 10 sec., Accessed 27 Nov. 2025.
“However, in order to reach this awakened state, it is first necessary to” figuratively let go of or “drop a major, part of your subconscious thinking” using CBT, especially Byron Katie's The Work, but also, Brad Blanton _Radical Honesty_, David Burns's _Feeling Great_, David H. Barlow's _Treatments That Work_, Smith's _When I Say No, I Feel Guilty_, etc.
“Once you see the truth, the thought lets go of _you_, not the other way around.” (Katie and Mitchell 2021, 152)
“It’s the truth that sets you free.” (Katie and Mitchell 2007, chap. 40)
“Before the thought, you weren’t suffering; with the thought, you’re suffering; when you recognize that the thought isn’t true, again there is no suffering.” (Katie and Mitchell 2021, 9)
“When discussing the noble eightfold path, the Buddha focused most often on the fact that following it leads to the end of suffering. This point is so important in his teachings that he twice stated, “Both formerly & now, it’s only stress that I describe, and the cessation of stress” (SN 22:86; MN 22). Any question that interfered with this aim, he would put aside.”
DeGraff, On the Path: An Anthology on the Noble Eightfold Path drawn from the Pāli Canon, OnThePath210213.pdf, 21.
https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/OnThePath/Section0006.html
“When your feelings are up and out, your mind is naturally quiet. And you're self-obvious to yourself as to the fact that you are whole, complete, perfect, eternal.” (‭“Lester Levenson, Hale Dwoskin - Lester Levenson (Sedona Method) Magnum Opus PDF-Lester Levenson _ Sedona Method (2024).pdf”, 394)
“Self (God) is Infinite, Limitless; One, Indivisible; Perfect; Changeless, Immutable; Timeless, Without Beginning or End; Whole, The All; Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent.” (Lester 1962, 65)
“The cosmic joke is, it's all a dream. Everything. All of it.”, https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm3o1tBB39T/.
“A SUMMARY THE SELF-GOD-ABSOLUTE TRUTH” (Lester 1962, 65)
“Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)”, https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/.
https://www.mindprod.com/livinglove/livinglove.html
“__THE WORLD AS A DREAM__” (Levenson 1993, 4)
“Spiritual awakening – A spiritual awakening …” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystical_or_religious_experience#Related_terms
https://global.oup.com/academic/content/series/t/treatments-that-work-ttw
“All this took place beyond time. But when I put it into language, I have to backtrack and fill in.” (Katie and Mitchell 63, 2007)
“It is incorrect to think that Nirvāṇa is the natural result of the extinction of craving. Nirvāṇa is not …” (Rahula 1978, 40)
SEE ALSO (Carse 2005, _Perfect Brilliant Stillness_, 60)

Edited March 12 by Lunatic

Lunatic · 2026-05-07T19:07:17Z

__A few sample inquiries__

“In parallel with Beck, Albert Ellis developed a cognitive approach called _rational emotive therapy_.^[47]^ In Ellis's ABC model, A is an antecedent stimulus (a noise), B is a belief (that the noise signifies danger), and C is the consequence (fearful feelings and avoidance response).” (LeDoux 2015, 265)
“1. When something obnoxious occurs to you at point A (your Activating Experience or Activating Event), you feel sorrowful or sad at point C (your emotional Consequence) because you tell yourself at point B (your Belief System), …” (Ellis and Harper 1975, 77) that the event is bad (negative in Burn's words).
A, B and C are all cognitions and B and C are events too.
So B for instance has its own A, B and C.
“__WORLD:__ A series of ~~positive, neutral, and negative (= at point B)~~ events.” (Burns 1999, 30)
“Remember that it never was, in the first place, an original traumatic experience that made people disturbed but their _attitude toward_ the experience—at what I call point “B”.” (Ellis 2004, 46–47)
“When your feelings are up and out, your mind is naturally quiet. And you're self-obvious to yourself as to the fact that you are whole, complete, perfect, eternal.” (‭“Lester Levenson, Hale Dwoskin - Lester Levenson (Sedona Method) Magnum Opus PDF-Lester Levenson _ Sedona Method (2024).pdf”, 394)
Getting started: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_Katie#Teachings, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-vBAEcjmTI, `The Work.md` (https://pastebin.com/NP3rAur9).
If you are looking for patterns, start from the bottom of the document: https://mega.nz/file/csJj2DiL#9bipHmgsD9agFe4JGAvdKYFR-tI57qFQtYn5Amtzocc, https://pastebin.com/SK4Hzzws.

Attachments
Brasington 2024, _Dependent Origination and Emptiness (2 ed.)_, 27–30, "Dependent Origination and Emptiness - 2nd Edition - A5", https://leighb.com/sodapi/download.htm.
Burns 1999, _Feeling Good : The New Mood Therapy_, 29–30, 155.
Katie and Jensen 2000, _All War Belongs on Paper: The Manual for the Work of Byron Katie_, 11.
Levenson 1993, _Keys to the Ultimate Freedom: Thoughts and Talks on Personal Transformation_, 221, https://archive.org/details/keys-to-the-ultimate-freedom-thoughts-and-talks-on-personal-transformation-leste.
gains_workbook-sedona-method-release-technique-1992.pdf.
jyn_en_mod_6feb2019_r4_form1.pdf, https://thework.com/.

It WOULD be right for Thomas to quit smoking.
I think that it WOULD be right for Thomas to quit smoking.
... think that it WOULD be best for Thomas to quit smoking.
Thomas SHOULD quit smoking.
__Q1: Is it true that Thomas SHOULD quit smoking?__
Yes.
__SQ: What do you think you WOULD have?__
I WOULD feel happy‒in control if Thomas quit smoking.
... WOULD feel happy—in getting Paul to quit smoking.
... WOULD feel happy—relieved (adj.).
__Q2: Can you absolutely know that it's true?__
No.
__Q3: How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?__
__Q3: What's the payoff for holding that belief?__ (Katie 1996, 15)
I feel unhappy.
... WOULD control/change Thomas. (= I WOULD get Thomas to quit smoking.)
__Q1: Is it true?__
No.
It is not true that it happens.
"It's an illusion; I don't really get that payoff." (Keyes 1989, 59)
__Q2: ...?__
__Q3: How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?__
I think that Thomas should quit smoking.
__Q3: ...?__
I feel unhappy.
...
__SQ3A: Can you see a reason to drop the thought? (And please don't try to drop it.)__
__SQ: CAN YOU SEE A REASON NOT TO CONTINUE BELIEVING THAT IT WOULD BE BEST FOR THOMAS TO QUIT SMOKING?__
__SQ: Can you see a fact that makes it correct not to continue believing that it WOULD be best for Thomas to quit smoking?__
https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199571123.001.0001/m_en_gb0710960.
Katie and Jensen 2000, 83.
__SQ: Can you see a fact that makes it right or fair to believe that Thomas SHOULD quit smoking?__
"a fact that makes it right or fair to do something"
..., reason (n.), sense 2, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/reason_1.
"correct in your opinion or judgement"
..., right (adj.), sense 2, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/right_1.
__SQ: Can you see a fact that makes it correct not to believe that it is true that Thomas SHOULD quit smoking?__
__SQ: Can you see a fact that makes it correct not to continue thinking that it is true that Thomas SHOULD quit smoking?__
Yes.
"Often, very good reasons can be found in your answer to question 3, “How do you react when you think that thought?” Each stressful reaction—anger, for example, or sadness or distancing—is a good reason to drop the thought." (Katie and Mitchell 2021, chap. 4)
I feel unhappy. But that does not mean it WOULD not be best for Thomas to quit smoking. That does not mean Thomas SHOULDN'T quit smoking. That does not mean it would be wrong for Thomas to quit smoking.
"to continue to have something and not give it back or throw it away"
..., keep (v.), sense 1, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/keep_1.
"Once you see the truth, the thought lets go of _you_, not the other way around." (Katie and Mitchell 2021, chap. 5)
__SQ3B: Can you find one stress-free reason to keep the thought?__
_SQ: Can you find one fact that makes it correct to continue believing the thought that Thomas SHOULD quit smoking?__
Yes.
"Everyone knows that smoking diminishes breathing capacity and causes lung cancer." (Katie and Jensen 2000, 83) That means it WOULD be best for Thomas to quit smoking. (Thomas's breathing capacity WOULD NOT diminish and he WOULD NOT get lung cancer.) That makes it correct to continue believing that it WOULD be best for Thomas to quit smoking.
__SQ: Is this reason peaceful, or is it stressful?__ (Katie and Mitchell 2021, chap. 5)
Stressful. __Q3: How do you react, ..., when you believe that everyone knows that ...?__ I think that Thomas should quit smoking. __Q3: ...?__ I feel unhappy.
(... WOULD control/change Thomas. That does not mean it WOULD be best for Thomas to quit smoking.)
__Q4: Who or what WOULD you be without the thought?__
... WOULD be sb who feels happy.

$$$
"Your thought that ... shouldn’t ... is just your way of mentally arguing with what is. It doesn’t do you any good, and it doesn’t change ...; its only effect is to cause you stress." (Katie and Mitchell 2021, chap. 5)
"We find that the only payoff is our suffering." (Katie 1996, 52)
"but also to understand the specific effects of believing it, the price in anger or sorrow or resentment that it pays when it believes the thought" (Katie and Mitchell 2007, chap. 65)
“Focusing on that payoff, check any insights you have about the supposed payoff that makes you hold on to your addiction:” (Keyes 1989, 59)
"“Is this reason (= payoff) peaceful, or is it stressful? Does thinking that thought bring peace or stress into my life?" (Katie and Mitchell 2021, 153)
...
I feel unhappy because I think that it is true that Thomas should quit smoking therefore it is not true that Thomas should quit smoking?
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/non-sequitur

        I don't have a job.
        __Q1: Is it true that you don't have a job?__
            Yes.
        __Q3: How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?__
            ... think that I COULD have a job.
                __Q1: IS IT TRUE THAT YOU COULD (= WOULD possibly; it WOULD be possible for you to (Quirk et al. 1985, 222; Swan ?, sec. 258.6)) HAVE A JOB?__
                __Q1: Is it true that you CAN have a job? (= Is it true that it is possible for you to have a job?)__
                __Q3: ...?__
                    ... think that it WOULD be good if I had a job.
                    ... think that it is bad that I don't have a job.
                        __Q1: Is it true that it is bad that you don't have a job?__
                            Yes.
                        __Q1: IS IT TRUE? LIKE, RIGHT NOW?__
                            No.
                        __Q3: How do you react, what happens, when you think that it is bad that you don't have a job?__
                            I feel unhappy.
                            ... think that I WOULD feel happy if I had a job.
                            ... think that I WOULD feel happy if I got (= "come to have (something); receive:") a job.
                            ... think that I WOULD feel happy if I got (= "succeed in attaining, achieving, or experiencing; obtain:") a job.
                                __Q1: Is it true that you WOULD feel happy if you got/obtained a job?__
                                    Yes.
                                __Q3: ...?__
                                    I think that it WOULD be right to try to find/get a job. (= I SHOULD look for a job.)
                                        __Q1: Is it true that I SHOULD look for a job?__
                                            No.
                                        __Q3: How do you react, ..., ...?__
                                            I think that I COULD have a job.
                            __SQ: Would you drop/let go of the thought that it is bad that you don't have a job if you could?__
                                Yes.
                        __Q4: If the thought let go of you, who or what WOULD you be?__
                            I WOULD be sb who feels happy.
        __Q4: Who or what WOULD you be without the thought?__
            ...

    I don't have a job.
    I think (= use mind) that I don't have a job.
        __Q1: Is it true that you don't have a job?__
            Yes.
        __Q2: Can you absolutely know that it's true?__
            No. My job might be to wake up. __That means__ I can't absolutely know that it's true.
        __Q3: How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought?__
            ... think (= use mind; have opinion/belief) that it is bad that I don't have a job. (= Vedanā.)
            (..., think (v.), sense 1, "__have opinion/belief__",  6 May 2026, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/think_1)
            (..., think (v.), sense 2, "__use mind__", ...)
            "your feelings or thoughts about somebody/something, rather than a fact"
            (..., opinion (n.), sense 1, SYNONYM view, 6 May 2026, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/opinion)
            "based on your own ideas or opinions rather than facts and therefore sometimes unfair"
            (..., subjective (adj.), sense 1, 6 May 2026, https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/subjective)
                __Q1: Is it true that it is bad that you don't have a job?__
                    Yes.
                __Q1: Is it true that it is bad that you don't have a job? Like, right now?__
                    Right now, in this moment, no.
                __Q2: Can you absolutely know that it's true?__
                    No.
                __Q3: How do you react, ..., when you believe that thought?__
                    I think that it is bad that I think that it is bad that I don't have a job.
                        __Q1: Is it true that it is bad that you think that it is bad that you don't have a job?__
                            Yes. I feel unhappy. __That means__ it is bad that I think that it is bad that I don't have a job.
                            No. I WOULD get to continue surviving—if I had a job. (__Q3: ... when you believe that you WOULD get to ...?__ I think that I WOULD feel happy—safe/secure.) That means it is good (= expedient) that I think that it is bad that I don't have a job.
                        __...__
                    I think (= use mind; have opinion/belief) that I feel unhappy.
                    I feel unhappy (adj.)—sad, anxious; ashamed, guilty, embarrassed.
                    ... feel disenjoyment (n.).
                    ... dislike (disenjoy (v.)) that I don't have a job.
                    "like or enjoy very much:" (_Oxford Dictionary of English (3 ed.)_, love (v.), sense 1.1, 6 May 2026, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199571123.001.0001/m_en_gb0482930)
                    ... feel undesirous—of not having a job. (= I don't want not to have a job.)
                    I feel desirous. (= "dependent upon __Vedanā__, __Craving__ arises." (Brasington 2024, _Dependent Origination and Emptiness (2 ed.)_, 27, 30, "Dependent Origination and Emptiness - 2nd Edition - A5", https://leighb.com/sodapi/download.htm))
                    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necessity_and_sufficiency
                        __Q1: Is it true that you dislike that you don't have a job?__
                        __Q1: Is it true that you dislike that you don't have a job therefore you think that it is bad that you don't have a job?__
                            Yes. __That means__ the thought that it is bad that you don't have a job is a necessary condition for the thought that you dislike that you don't have a job. (= Q1 is a switch for Q3.)
                        __Q1: Is it true that you think that it is bad that you don't have a job therefore you dislike that you don't have a job?__
                            Yes. __That means__ the thought ....
                        __Q2: ...?__
                        __Q3: ...?__
                            ...
                            I think that it is bad that I dislike ....
                                __Q1: Is it true that it is bad that you dislike ...?__
                                    Yes. "Do I operate more efficiently, quickly and clearly when I am stressed or fearful?” (In my experience, all stress is inefficient and is simply a mask for the fear of love.)" (Katie and Jensen 2000, 85)
                                    Yes. "A small amount of anxiety can be motivating, but you rapidly reach a point of diminishing returns. Too much anxiety can cripple you. I’ve found that I do my best work when I’m feeling relaxed and confident, not when I’m worried or anxious." (Burns 2006, 68)
                                    Barlow and Craske 2022, 41–42.
                                    ...
                                __Q2: ...?__
                                __Q3: ...?__
                                    __SQ: Would you let go of the thought that you dislike that ... if you could?__
                                    Would you let go that you dislike that you don't have a job if you could?
                                    Would you let go that you want a job if you could?
                                        Yes.
                                        Magic Dial. Burns 2020.
                                        Magic Button. Burns 2020.
                                        "You'll see as you start to become aware of your wanting approval and control, even more than with the emotions, you'll have a tendency to just let it go. It's like you'll notice you're wanting to control it a little, and it's just gone. Because it's natural. It's a natural part of us to let go of our wanting approval and wanting control once it's identified." (“Lester Levenson, Hale Dwoskin - Lester Levenson (Sedona Method) Magnum Opus PDF-Lester Levenson _ Sedona Method (2024)”, 7)
                                        "See, our course works at the feeling level. And the intellect, the rational part of the mind is all motivated by our feelings today." (“Lester Levenson, Hale Dwoskin - Lester Levenson (Sedona Method) Magnum Opus PDF-Lester Levenson _ Sedona Method (2024)”, 36)
                                        ...
                                __Q4: ...?__
                        __Q4: ...?__
                    __SQ: Would you let go of the thought that it is bad that you don't have a job if you could?__
                        Yes.
                        “Once you see the truth, the thought lets go of _you_, not the other way around.” (Katie and Mitchell 2021, 152)
                        "when you recognize that the thought isn’t true, again there is no suffering." (Katie and Mitchell 2021, chap. 1, 9)
                        "When I say that the worst that can happen is a belief, I am being literal." (Katie and Mitchell 2021, chap. 12)
                __Q4: ...?__

        I don't have a job.
        __Q3: ...?__
            I think that it is bad that I don't have a job.
                __Q3: ...?__
                    I feel unhappy.
                    ... feel undesirous—of not having a job. (= I don't want not to have a job.)
                    ... feel not desirous—of not having a job.
                        __Q3: ...?__
                            I think that I don't have a job.
    "__Q:__ If you drop the desire for some thing, will it still come your way? __Lester:__ No. The desire is the cause for it." (Levenson 1993, chap. 28)
    "The effect of this cessation ripples through the many feedback loops, allowing the whole sequence to cease." (https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/BuddhasTeachings/Section0003.html)
    

    I don't have a job.
        __Q3: ...?__
            ... think that it is bad that I don't have a job.
                __Q3: ...?__
                    I think that I don't have a job.

        I don't have a job.
        __Q3: ...?__
            I think that it is bad that I don't have a job.
            ... think that it WOULD be good if I had a job.
                __Q3: ...?__
                    I feel unhappy.
                    ... think that it is good that I think that it is bad that I don't have a job.
                        __Q1: ...?__
                            Yes.
                            No. I feel unhappy. __That means__ it is bad (= disadvantageous, unhelpful, etc.) that I think that it is bad that I don't have  a job.
                        __Q3: How do you react, what happens, when you think that it is good that you think that it is bad that you don't have a job?__
                            I think that it is bad that I don't have job.

Burns 1999, pp. 29–30, 155 .pdf

Brasington 2024, pp. 27, 28, 29, 30.pdf

Levenson 1993, 221.pdf

jyn_en_mod_6feb2019_r4_form1.pdf

89_PDFsam_gains_workbook-sedona-method-release-technique-1992.pdf

Katie and Jensen 2000, 11.pdf