A great religious persecution broke out in the land and the three Pillars of religion - Scripture, Worship, and Charity - appeared before God to express their fear that if religion was stamped out, they would cease to exist.
"Not to worry," said the Lord. "I plan to send One to earth who is greater than all of you."
"By what name is this Great One called?"
"Self-knowledge," said God. "He will do greater things than any of you have done."
Anthony de Mello
March 31, 2008
Awareness(1)
March 30, 2008
About Prayer (24)
Once upon a time there was a forest where the birds sang by day and the insects by night. Trees flourished, flowers bloomed, and all manner of creatures roamed about in freedom
And all who entered there were led to Solitude, which is the home of God, who dwells in Nature's silence and Nature's beauty.
But then the Age of Unconsciousness arrived, when it became possible for people to construct buildings a thousand feet high and to destroy rivers and forests and mountains in a month. So houses of worship were built from the wood of the forest trees and from the stone under the forest soil. Pinnacle, spire, and minaret pointed toward the sky; the air was filled with the sound of bells, with prayer and chant and exhortation.
And God was suddenly without a home.
God hides things by putting them before our eyes!
Hark! Listen to the song of the bird, the wind in the trees, the ocean's roar; look at a tree, a falling leaf, a flower as if for the first time.
You might suddenly make contact with Reality, with that Paradise from which we, having fallen from childhood, are excluded by our knowledge.
Says the Indian mystic Saraha: "Know the taste of this flavor which is the absence of Knowledge."
Anthony de Mello
And all who entered there were led to Solitude, which is the home of God, who dwells in Nature's silence and Nature's beauty.
But then the Age of Unconsciousness arrived, when it became possible for people to construct buildings a thousand feet high and to destroy rivers and forests and mountains in a month. So houses of worship were built from the wood of the forest trees and from the stone under the forest soil. Pinnacle, spire, and minaret pointed toward the sky; the air was filled with the sound of bells, with prayer and chant and exhortation.
And God was suddenly without a home.
God hides things by putting them before our eyes!
Hark! Listen to the song of the bird, the wind in the trees, the ocean's roar; look at a tree, a falling leaf, a flower as if for the first time.
You might suddenly make contact with Reality, with that Paradise from which we, having fallen from childhood, are excluded by our knowledge.
Says the Indian mystic Saraha: "Know the taste of this flavor which is the absence of Knowledge."
Anthony de Mello
March 28, 2008
About Prayer (23)
An efficiency expert was making his report to Henry Ford. "As you will see, sir, the report is highly favorable, except for that man down the hall. Every time I pass by he is sitting with his feet on his desk. He is wasting your money."
Said Ford, "That man once had an idea that earned us a fortune. At the time I believe his feet were exactly where they are now."
There was an exhausted woodcutter who kept wasting time and energy chopping wood with a blunt ax because he did not have the time, he said, to stop and sharpen the blade.
Anthony de Mello
Said Ford, "That man once had an idea that earned us a fortune. At the time I believe his feet were exactly where they are now."
There was an exhausted woodcutter who kept wasting time and energy chopping wood with a blunt ax because he did not have the time, he said, to stop and sharpen the blade.
Anthony de Mello
March 27, 2008
About Prayer (22)
When the Master invited the Governor to practice meditation and the Governor said he was too busy, this is the reply he got: " You put me in mind of a man walking blindfolded into the jungle - and being to busy to take the blindfold off."
When the Governor pleaded lack to time, the Master said, "It is a mistake to think that meditation cannot be practiced for lack of time. The real reason is agitation of the mind."
Anthony de Mello
When the Governor pleaded lack to time, the Master said, "It is a mistake to think that meditation cannot be practiced for lack of time. The real reason is agitation of the mind."
Anthony de Mello
March 26, 2008
About Prayer (21)
A monk was walking in the monastery grounds one day when he heard a bird sing.
He listened, spellbound. It seemed to him that never before had he heard, really heard, the song of a bird.
When the singing stopped he returned to the monastery and discovered, to his dismay, that he was a stranger to his fellow monks, and they to him.
It was only gradually that they and he discovered that he was returning after centuries. Because his listening was total, time had stopped and he had slipped into eternity.
Prayer is made perfect when the timeless is discovered.
The timeless is discovered through clarity of perception.
Perception is made clear when it is disengaged from preconceptions and from all consideration of personal loss or gain.
Then the miraculous is seen and the heart is filled with wonder.
Anthony de Mello
He listened, spellbound. It seemed to him that never before had he heard, really heard, the song of a bird.
When the singing stopped he returned to the monastery and discovered, to his dismay, that he was a stranger to his fellow monks, and they to him.
It was only gradually that they and he discovered that he was returning after centuries. Because his listening was total, time had stopped and he had slipped into eternity.
Prayer is made perfect when the timeless is discovered.
The timeless is discovered through clarity of perception.
Perception is made clear when it is disengaged from preconceptions and from all consideration of personal loss or gain.
Then the miraculous is seen and the heart is filled with wonder.
Anthony de Mello
March 25, 2008
About Prayer (20)
There was once a woman who was religious and devout and filled with love for God. Each morning she would go to church. And on her way children would call out to her , beggars would accost her, but so immersed was she in her devotions that she did not even see them.
Now one day she walked down the street in her customary manner and arrived at the church just in time for a service. She pushed the door, but it would not open. She pushed it again harder, and found the door was locked.
Distressed at the thought that she would miss service for the first time in years, and not knowing what to do, she looked up. And there, right before her face, she found a note pinned to the door.
It said, "I'm out there!"
Anthony de Mello
March 23, 2008
About Prayer (19)
A man went to see a psychiatrist and said that every night he was visited by a twelve-foot dragon with three heads. He was a nervous wreck, could not sleep at all, and was on the verge of total collapse. He had even thought of suicide.
"I think I can help you," said the psychiatrist, "but I must warn you that it will take a year or two and will cost three thousand dollars."
"Three thousand dollars!" the man exclaimed. "Forget it! I'll just go home and make friends with it."
Anthony de Mello
"I think I can help you," said the psychiatrist, "but I must warn you that it will take a year or two and will cost three thousand dollars."
"Three thousand dollars!" the man exclaimed. "Forget it! I'll just go home and make friends with it."
Anthony de Mello
March 18, 2008
About Prayer (18)
Once the Master was at prayer. The disciple came up to him and said, "Sir, teach us how to pray." This is how he taught them . . .
Two men were once walking through a field when they saw an angry bull. Instantly they made for the nearest fence with the bull in hot pursuit. It soon became evident to them that they were not going to make it, so one man shouted to the other, "We've had it! Nothing can save us. Say a prayer. Quick!"
The other shouted back, "I've never prayed in my life and I don't have a prayer for this occasion."
"Never mind. The bull is catching up with us. Any prayer will do."
"Well, I'll say the one I remember my father used to say before meals: For what we are about the receive, Lord, make us truly grateful."
Nothing surpasses the holiness of those who have learned perfect acceptance of everything that is.
In the game of cards called life one plays the hand one is dealt to the best of one's ability.
Those who insist on playing, not the hand they were given, but the one they insist they should have been dealt - these are life's failures.
We are not asked if we will play. That is not an option. Play we must. The option is how.
Anthony de Mello
Two men were once walking through a field when they saw an angry bull. Instantly they made for the nearest fence with the bull in hot pursuit. It soon became evident to them that they were not going to make it, so one man shouted to the other, "We've had it! Nothing can save us. Say a prayer. Quick!"
The other shouted back, "I've never prayed in my life and I don't have a prayer for this occasion."
"Never mind. The bull is catching up with us. Any prayer will do."
"Well, I'll say the one I remember my father used to say before meals: For what we are about the receive, Lord, make us truly grateful."
Nothing surpasses the holiness of those who have learned perfect acceptance of everything that is.
In the game of cards called life one plays the hand one is dealt to the best of one's ability.
Those who insist on playing, not the hand they were given, but the one they insist they should have been dealt - these are life's failures.
We are not asked if we will play. That is not an option. Play we must. The option is how.
Anthony de Mello
March 17, 2008
About Prayer (17)
The Moghul Emperor, Akbar, was one day out hunting in the forest. When it was time for evening prayer he dismounted, spread his mat on the earth, and knelt to pray in the manner of devout Muslims everywhere.
Now it was precisely at this time that a peasant woman, perturbed because her husband had left home that morning and hadn't returned, went rushing by, anxiously searching for him. In her preoccupation she did not notice the kneeling figure of the Emperor and tripped over him, then got up and without a word of apology rushed farther into the forest.
Akbar was annoyed at this interruption, but being a good Muslim, he observed the rule of speaking to no one during the namaaz.
At just about the time that his prayer was over, the woman returned, joyful in the company of her husband, whom she had found. She was surprised and frightened to see the Emperor and his entourage there. Akbar gave vent to his anger against her and shouted, "Explain your disrespectful behavior or you will be punished."
The woman suddenly turned fearless, looked into the Emperor's eyes and said, "Your Majesty, I was so absorbed in the thought of my husband that I did not even see you here, not even when, as you say, I stumbled over you. Now while you were at namaaz, you were absorbed in One who is infinitely more precious than my husband. And how is it you noticed me?"
The Emperor was shamed into silence and later confided to his friends that a peasant woman who was neither a scholar nor a Mullah, had taught him the meaning of Prayer.
Anthony de Mello
Now it was precisely at this time that a peasant woman, perturbed because her husband had left home that morning and hadn't returned, went rushing by, anxiously searching for him. In her preoccupation she did not notice the kneeling figure of the Emperor and tripped over him, then got up and without a word of apology rushed farther into the forest.
Akbar was annoyed at this interruption, but being a good Muslim, he observed the rule of speaking to no one during the namaaz.
At just about the time that his prayer was over, the woman returned, joyful in the company of her husband, whom she had found. She was surprised and frightened to see the Emperor and his entourage there. Akbar gave vent to his anger against her and shouted, "Explain your disrespectful behavior or you will be punished."
The woman suddenly turned fearless, looked into the Emperor's eyes and said, "Your Majesty, I was so absorbed in the thought of my husband that I did not even see you here, not even when, as you say, I stumbled over you. Now while you were at namaaz, you were absorbed in One who is infinitely more precious than my husband. And how is it you noticed me?"
The Emperor was shamed into silence and later confided to his friends that a peasant woman who was neither a scholar nor a Mullah, had taught him the meaning of Prayer.
Anthony de Mello
March 15, 2008
About Prayer (16)
An old man would sit motionless in church for hours on end. One day a priest asked him what God talked to him about.
"God doesn't talk. He just listens" was his reply.
"Well, then what do you talk to him about?"
"I don't talk either. I just listen."
"God doesn't talk. He just listens" was his reply.
"Well, then what do you talk to him about?"
"I don't talk either. I just listen."
The four stages of Prayer:
I talk, you listen.
You talk, I listen.
Neither talks, both listen.
Neither talks, neither listens: Silence.
Anthony de Mello
March 13, 2008
About Prayer (15)
A priest observed a woman sitting in the empty church with her head in her hands.
An hour passed. Then two. Still she was there.
Judging her to be a soul in distress, and eager to be of assistance, he went up to the woman and said, "Is there anyway I can be of help?"
"No, thank you, Father," she said, "I've been getting all the help I need."
Until you interrupted!
Anthony de Mello
An hour passed. Then two. Still she was there.
Judging her to be a soul in distress, and eager to be of assistance, he went up to the woman and said, "Is there anyway I can be of help?"
"No, thank you, Father," she said, "I've been getting all the help I need."
Until you interrupted!
Anthony de Mello
March 10, 2008
About Prayer (14)
They had made it their custom to invite their pious aunt to go with them on their picnic each year. This year they forgot. When the invitation did come at the last minute, she said, "It's too late now. I've already prayed for rain."
Anthony de Mello
March 9, 2008
About Prayer (13)
So intolerable had Hitler's persecution of the Jews become that two Jews decided to assassinate him. They mounted guard, their guns at the ready, at a spot by which they knew the Fuehrer was to pass. He was long in coming and a horrible thought occurred to Samuel. "Joshua," he said, "say a prayer that nothing's happened to the man!"
Anthony de Mello
March 5, 2008
About Prayer (12)
Of prayers and pray-ers
Grandmother: "Do you say your prayers every night?"
Grandson: "Oh, yes!"
Grandmother: "And every morning?"
Grandson: "No. I'm not scared in the daytime."
Anthony de Mello
March 2, 2008
About Prayer (11)
A pious old man prayed five times a day while his business partner never set foot in church. And now, on his eightieth birthday he prayed thus:
"Oh Lord our God! Since I was a youth, not a day have I allowed to pass without coming to church in the morning and saying my prayers at the five specified times. Not a single move, not one decision, important or trifling, did I make without first invoking your Name. And now, in my old age, I have doubled my exercises of piety and pray to you ceaselessly, night and day. Yet here I am, poor as a church mouse. But look at my business partner. He drinks and gambles and, even at his advanced age, consorts with women of questionable character, yet he's rolling in wealth. I wonder if a single prayer has ever crossed his lips. Now, Lord, I do not ask that he be punished, for that would be unchristian. But please tell me: Why, why, why have you let him prosper and why do you treat me thus?"
"Because," said God in reply, "you are such a monumental bore!"
The Rule in a monastery was not "Do not speak," but "Do not speak unless you can improve on the silence." Might not the same be said of prayer?
Anthony de Mello
"Oh Lord our God! Since I was a youth, not a day have I allowed to pass without coming to church in the morning and saying my prayers at the five specified times. Not a single move, not one decision, important or trifling, did I make without first invoking your Name. And now, in my old age, I have doubled my exercises of piety and pray to you ceaselessly, night and day. Yet here I am, poor as a church mouse. But look at my business partner. He drinks and gambles and, even at his advanced age, consorts with women of questionable character, yet he's rolling in wealth. I wonder if a single prayer has ever crossed his lips. Now, Lord, I do not ask that he be punished, for that would be unchristian. But please tell me: Why, why, why have you let him prosper and why do you treat me thus?"
"Because," said God in reply, "you are such a monumental bore!"
The Rule in a monastery was not "Do not speak," but "Do not speak unless you can improve on the silence." Might not the same be said of prayer?
Anthony de Mello
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