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The
Work Moves in Mexico
by
Andres Portillo, School graduate, June ’03
Last May (2003) something important happened
in Mexico. Katie visited us and opened our hearts,
inspiring us to begin taking The Work to every
corner of our country.
Katie´s visit included five major events:
sharing The Work in a women´s penitentiary,
a 300-person event focusing on addictions and
codependence, a press conference and book signing,
a three-hour public event sharing The Work at
Mexico´s largest annual human development
exposition (ExpoSer), and a Weekend Intensive
for those ready to go deeper into The Work.
At the penitentiary, approximately 60 female
inmates started working with their stories to
find that their real freedom can be found inside
them.
The addictions and codependency event helped
many of us see that even if we are not addicted
to drugs, we are often addicted to seeking love,
approval, and appreciation from others. The
Work helps us target this painful addiction
at its source in our thinking.
At the public event, we witnessed Katie working
intensively with a particular couple and through
them we investigated deeply our own relationships
with others and with ourselves.
During the Intensive, 230 people gathered and
it was a deep experience. Participants realized
that The Work is not a technique, it is an experience.
Instead of simply reading it in a book, we were
able to feel it come alive in us as we learned
to question our beliefs about the world.
Katie´s visit was a seed that has been
planted in our hearts, and that seed continues
to grow here in Mexico. Once a month there is
a weekend workshop to learn The Work. On average
about 25 people attend. Attendees are often
so inspired, they volunteer to support other
projects sharing The Work with people in difficult
circumstances.
One of these projects involves developing a
relationship with an Alcoholics Anonymous Community
Center in an economically challenged neighborhood.
Multiple meetings sharing The Work have been
held already, with usually about 60 people attending.
These meetings have helped participants deal
with self-worth issues that are at the root
of many addictions.
Another project has begun as 6 weekly sessions
in the women´s penitentiary Katie visited.
During each session, approximately 40 volunteers
go to the penitentiary and we work with the
inmates. The inmates and volunteers both find
that the biggest prison is our uninvestigated
thinking and that we can find freedom from that
no matter where we are. The penitentiary sessions
have also focused on how The Work opens the
space for love. People there really wanted to
be loved and touched. We used eye contact and
physical contact (hugging) to help the women
there open up to inquiry. For some of them,
it was the first time in years they had been
able to give and receive love this way. The
number of inmates attending grew from 30 the
first week to 60 by the end of the six weeks
as the impact of The Work spread through the
penitentiary. (This was out of a total inmate
population of 270 women.) Attached below are
testimonials from some of the women.
Thank you to all the staff attending the School
for The Work, March '03 who donated money to
bring Loving What Is to these inmates.
Those donations enabled us to give 40 copies
of the book away. We intend to continue working
with these people.
The impact of The Work has been so powerful,
the Director of Penitentiaries for Mexico wants
to expand the program next both to a men´s
penitentiary and a penitentiary for first time
offenders that is focused on rehabilitation
and reintegration into society.
Viva The Work!
Andres Portillo
TESTIMONIALS FROM A WOMEN’S PENITENTIARY
(translated from Spanish)
August 10, 2003
"Through this letter I want to thank
you for all the support you have brought to
us in this penitentiary through The Work of
Byron Katie. It has meant a lot to me in becoming
a better human being, and has helped me to understand
others and accept them without attempting to
change them. I also have been noticing a lot
of changes in the other participants in the
course. The teachings and offerings from the
course providers have brought us love and comprehension
and kindness and a lot of help. Each time we
finish a session we felt so good—a lot
of joy and full of love and kindness. This Work
truly rehabilitates all of us who participate.
The Work of Byron Katie should be required for
all prisoners and, in fact, everyone in Mexico.
This is because learning how to support ourselves
could be reflected first in our families, then
in our societies, and finally in our countries.
To me, it will be very helpful to continue in
this process. My hope is that the course providers
will continue coming to bring more help and
knowledge."
Sincerely,
C.D.P.
August 10, 2003
"Through this note we want to thank
you for giving us the satisfaction of finding
in our small yet immense world of loneliness
the opportunity of knowing people in The Work
of Byron Katie. These wonderful people have
shown us life from another point of view. The
Work of Byron Katie has been very helpful. It
has brought us a lot of spiritual help because
through this course we looked within ourselves.
Inside of us we found the child, the woman,
the mother, the wife, and the daughter—parts
of us that the trials of our lives caused us
to hide in a corner of our soul. We would like
to continue this valuable course that helps
us let go of our fears and sorrows, making us
better human beings and more useful for society."
- L.P.C. & A.S
Inmates of the C.F.R.S Tepepan
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