Reading Archives (Author)
Effort Does Not Change The Person
Anthony De Mello
Effort may change the behavior but it does not change the person. Just think what kind of a mentality it betrays when you ask, 'What must I do to get holiness?' Isn't it like asking, How m...
The World Feeling And The Soul Feeling
Anthony de Mello
For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? —Matthew 16:26 Recall the kind of feeling you have when someone praises you, when you are approved, accepted,...
Substituting One Cruelty For Another
Anthony de Mello
Many people swing into action only to make things worse. They're not coming from love, they're coming from negative feelings. They're coming from guilt, anger, hate; from a sense of injust...
Three Qualities Of Holiness
Anthony De Mello
True happiness is uncaused. You are happy for no reason at all. And true happiness cannot be experienced. It is not within the realm of consciousness. So it is with holiness. Holiness i...
We Want Relief. Cure Is Painful
Anthony de Mello
Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don’t know it, are asleep. They’re born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep,...
Dropping That Drug
Anthony de Mello
If we really dropped illusions for what others can give us or deprive us of, we would become alert. The consequence of not doing this is terrifying and inescapable -- we lose our capacity to love. If ...
Life Before Death
Anthony De Mello
All questions at the public meeting that day were about life beyond the grave. The Master only laughed and did not give a single answer. To his disciples, who demanded to know the reason for his ...
Armchair Explorer
Anthony De Mello
"The explorer returned to his people, who were eager to know about the Amazon. But how could he ever put into words the feelings that flooded his heart when he saw exotic flowers and heard the night-...
The Job
Anthony De Mello
Enter first applicant. "You understand that this is a simple test we are giving you before we offer you the job you have applied for?" "Yes." "Well, what is two plus two?" ...
Absence of Fear
Anthony De Mello
"What is love?" "Total absence of fear," said the master. "What is that we fear?" "Love," said the master. - Anthony De Mello We fear this total absence of fear. Why? Because if we...
Thought is a screen not a mirror
Anthony De Mello
"Why are you so wary of thought?" said the philosopher. "Thought is the one tool we have for organizing the world." "True. But thought can organize the world so well...
Can You Just Sit?
Anthony de Mello
The disciples were involved in a heated discussion on the cause of human suffering. Some said it came from selfishness. Others, from delusion. Yet others, from the inab...