A Year with Anthony De Mello: Waking Up Week by Week

The mystics keep trying to tell us that reality is all right. The upset is in you, not in reality. Reality is not problematic. Problems exist only in the human mind. We might add “in the ignorant, programmed, conditioned, sleeping mind.” Reality is not problematic, but most people are not ready to hear that.

Now imagine saying to this person, “I’m perfectly happy without you, darling. I wish you nothing but good, and I leave you free. When we truly connect, I’m delighted; and when we don’t, I’m not miserable. When you go away, I don’t miss you.” Journal about your experience in relating to a loved one in this way. Does it cause a shock? Journal about i

What do you have to do? You must understand two truths about yourself. Here’s the first truth: your life is in a mess. Of course you might not like to hear that. It might insult you, which only proves it’s true. Say to someone your life is in a mess and they are likely to object with, “What do you mean? I’m doing pretty well. I have a career; I hav

realized I was in the presence of life. It was right there. He was alive. By comparison, I was dead.

To live like a king or queen spiritually means you know no anxiety at all, no inner conflict, no tensions, no pressures, no upset, no heartache. Until you can transcend these reactions, your life remains a mess.

What decides what will finally make its way to your conscious mind from all the material that is pouring in from the world? Three decisive filters: First, your attachments. Second, your beliefs. Third, your fears.

In short, you’ve been trained to upset yourself. For instance, when other people don’t live up to your computer’s expectations, it torments you with frustration, anger, or bitterness. When things are not under your control, or the future is uncertain, your computer insists that you experience anxiety, tension, or worry. Then you expend a lot of ene

Now, listening is not as easy as you might think. Why? Because we’re always listening from fixed concepts, fixed positions, fixed prejudices. The kind of listening I am referring to means being alert. So, as you read this book and reflect on it, be alert. Be watchful. Hold the intention to listen with a fresh mind, without prejudices, without judgi

On a bitterly cold day a master and his disciples were huddled around a fire. One of the disciples, echoing his master’s teachings, said, “On a freezing day like this I know exactly what to do!” “What?” asked the others. “Keep warm! And if that isn’t possible, I still know what to do.” “What?” “Freeze.” Present Reality cannot really be rejected or

What decides what will finally make its way to your conscious mind from all the material that is pouring in from the world? Three decisive filters: First, your attachments. Second, your beliefs. Third, your fears.