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Wisdom tends to grow in proportion to one's awareness of one's ignorance.
Anthony de Mello
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"Name one practical, down-to-earth effect of spirituality," said the skeptic who was ready for an argument.
"Here's one," said the Master. "When someone offends you, you can raise your spirits to heights where offenses cannot reach."
Anthony de Mello
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"What, concretely, is Enlightenment?"
"Seeing Reality as it is," said the Master.
"Doesn't everyone see Reality as it is?"
"Oh, no! Most people see it as they think it is."
"What's the difference?"
"The difference between thinking you are drowning in a stormy sea and knowing you cannot drown because there isn't any water in sight for miles around."
Anthony de Mello
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There's only one reason why you're not experiencing bliss at this present moment, and it's because you're thinking or focusing on what you don't have....But, right now you have everything you need to be in bliss.
Anthony de Mello
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A master was once unmoved by the complaints of his disciples that, though they listened with pleasure to his parables and stories, they were also frustrated for they longed for something deeper. To all their objections he would simply reply: "You have yet to understand, my friends, that the shortest distance between a human being and truth is a story."
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What I really enjoy is not you; it's something that's greater than both you and me. It is something that I discovered, a kind of symphony, a kind of orchestra that plays one melody in your presence, but when you depart, the orchestra doesn't stop. When I meet someone else, it plays another melody, which is also very delightful. And when I'm alone, it continues to play.
Anthony de Mello
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I'm going to write a book someday and the title will be I'm an Ass, You're an Ass. That's the most liberating, wonderful thing in the world, when you openly admit you're an ass. It's wonderful. When people tell me, "You're wrong" I say, "What can you expect of an ass?"
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Understand the obstructions you are putting in the way of love, freedom, and happiness and they will drop. Turn on the light of awareness and the darkness will disappear. Happiness is not something you acquire; love is not something you produce; love is not something you have; love is something that has you.
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A nice definition of an awakened person: a person who no longer marches to the drums of society, a person who dances to the tune of the music that springs up from within.
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"What is my identity?"
"Nothing," said the Master.
"You mean that I am an emptiness and a void?" said the incredulous disciple.
"Nothing that can be labeled." said the Master.
Anthony de Mello
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No one is exempt from talking nonsense. The great misfortune is to do it solemnly.
Anthony de Mello
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The Master was allergic to ideologies.
"In a war of ideas," he said, "it is people who are the casualties." Later he elaborated: "People kill for money or for power. But the most ruthless murderers are those who kill for their ideas."
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"Tell me," said the atheist, "Is there a God — really?"
Said the master, "If you want me to be perfectly honest with you, I will not answer."
Later the disciples demanded to know why he had not answered.
"Because the question is unanswerable," said the Master.
"So you are an atheist?"
"Certainly not. The atheist makes the mistake of denying that of which nothing may be said... and the theist makes the mistake of affirming it.
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"You are only a disciple because your eyes are closed. The day you open them you will see there is nothing you can learn from me or anyone."
"What then is a Master for?"
"To make you see the uselessness of having one."
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In many ways we were drugged when we were young. We were brought up to need people. For what? For acceptance, approval, appreciation, applause.
Anthony de Mello
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"What is the work of a Master?" said a solemn-faced visitor.
"To teach people to laugh," said the Master gravely.
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"The law is an expression of God's holy will and as such must be honored and loved," said the preacher piously.
"Rubbish," said the Master. "The law is a necessary evil and as such must be cut down to the barest minimum. Show me a lover of the law and I will show you a muttonheaded tyrant."
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Said the monk: "All these mountains and rivers and the earth and stars - where do they come from?" Said the master: "Where does your question come from?"
Anthony de Mello
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What you are aware of you are in control of; what you are not aware of is in control of you.
Anthony de Mello
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All I did was sit on the riverbank handing out river water. After I'm gone, I trust you will notice the river.
Anthony de Mello
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The master was never impressed by diplomas or degrees. He scrutinized the person, not the certificate.
He was once heard to say, 'When you have ears to hear a bird in song, you don't need to look at its credentials.
Anthony de Mello
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You're not living until it doesn't matter a tinker's damn to you whether you live or die. At that point you live. When you're ready to lose your life, you live it.
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Before creation Love was. After creation love is made. When love is consummated, creation will cease to be, and Love will be forever.
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As the Japanese Zen masters say, Don't seek the truth; just drop your opinions. Drop your theories; don't seek the truth.
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Thought can organize the world so well that you are no longer able to see it.
Anthony de Mello
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Quote of the day
Life is not having been told that the man has just waxed the floor.
Ogden Nash
Anthony de Mello
Born:
September 4, 1931
Died:
June 2, 1987
(aged 55)
Bio:
Anthony "Tony" de Mello was an Indian Jesuit priest and psychotherapist. A spiritual teacher, writer and public speaker, De Mello wrote several books on spirituality and hosted numerous spiritual retreats and conferences.
Known for:
Awareness
The way to love
The song of the bird (1982)
One minute wisdom (1985)
Sadhana, a way to God (1978)
Most used words:
master
people
love
life
god
truth
reality
human
live
change
meaning
disciple
understand
person
thought
Anthony de Mello on Wikipedia
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