The problem for me with Buddhism is that it just seems like a religion for single men. I reckon any mother would invent a different belief system – one that includes intensely loving your child. I would choose my child over enlightenment any day.

I did have a post here about Byron Katie and “The Work” but I took it down, and the links to her site. I took the post down because the more I read, the more uncomfortable I became with her organisation, and her ideas. Some people suggest that it’s a cult. I don’t know about that.

I became more concerned with the idea she is selling that you can be permanently happy. Some of her examples of applying The Work to people who have lost children or have serious problems make disturbing reading. Some of the posts on her blog are so deep in jargon, goobledegook, that it’s very hard to decipher her meaning.

In the end all you can do is keep an open mind, take the ideas that work for you, and reject the rest.

• So I do like Byron Katie’s Four Questions. Especially “is it true?” as a way to challenge thoughts.
• I do accept The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism and that attachment causes suffering.

But I don’t believe that detachment (enlightenment) is something I want. Because I love the messiness of life. The fierce love. So I accept the costs of that love; that attachment. The worries and pain. They are worth it. They too will pass.