Religion (4)

On a cold winter night a wandering ascetic asked for shelter in a temple. The poor man stood shivering there in the falling snow, so the temple priest, reluctant though he was to let the man in, said, "Very well, you can stay, but only for the night. This is a temple, not a hospice. In the morning you will have to go."

In the dead of night the priest heard a strange crackling sound. He rushed to the temple and saw an incredible sight. There was the stranger warming himself at a fire he had lit in the temple. A wooden Buddha was missing. The priest asked, "Where is the statue?"

The wandered pointed to the fire, then said, "I thought his cold would kill me."

The priest shouted, "Are you out of your mind? Do you know what you have done? That was a Buddha statue. You have burned the Buddha!"

The fire was slowly dying out. The ascetic gazed into it and began to poke it with his stick.

"What are you doing now?" the priest yelled.

"I am searching for the bones of the Buddha whom you say I burned."

The priest later reported the incident to a Zen master who said, "You must be a bad priest because you valued a dead Buddha over a live man."

Anthony de Mello

Awareness (21)

A prisoner lived in solitary confinement for years. He saw and spoke to no one and his meals were served through an opening in the wall.

One day an ant came into his cell. The man contemplated it in fascination as it crawled around the room. He held it in the palm of his hand the better to observe it, gave it a grain of two, and kept it under his tin cup at night.

One day it suddenly struck him that it had taken him ten long years of solitary confinement to open his eyes to the loveliness of an ant.

When a friend visited the Spanish painter El Greco at his home on a lovely spring afternoon, he found him sitting in his room, the curtains tightly drawn.
"Come out into the sunshine," said the friend.
"Not now," El Greco replied. "It would disturb the light that is shining within me."

Anthony de Mello

Awareness (17)

A drunkard was walking down a street with blisters in both of his ears. A friend asked him what had happened to cause the blisters.

"My wife left her hot iron on, and when the phone rang I picked up the iron by mistake."

"Yes, but what about the other ear?"

"The damned fool called back!"

Anthony de Mello

Awareness (13)

A man took his new hunting dog out on a trial hunt. Presently he shot a duck that fell into the lake. The dog walked over the water, picked up the duck, and brought it to his master.

The man was flabbergasted! He shot another duck. Once again, while he rubbed his eyes in disbelief, the dog walked over the water and retrieved the duck.

Hardly daring to believe that he had seen, he called his neighbor for a shoot the following day. Once again, each time he or his neighbor hit a bird, the dog would walk over the water and bring the bird in; The man said nothing. Neither did his neighbor. Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, he blurted out, "Did you notice anything strange about that dog?"

The neighbor rubbed his chin pensively. "Yes," he finally said. "Come to think of it, I did! The son of a gun can't swim!"

It isn't as if life is not full of miracles. It's more than that: it is miraculous, and anyone who stops taking it for granted will see it at once.

Anthony de Mello

Awareness (6)

Many, many years ago, back in the Middle Ages, the Pope was urged by his advisers to banish the Jews from Rome. It was unseemly, they said, that these people should be living unmolested in the very center of Catholicism. An edict of eviction was drawn up and promulgated, much to the dismay of the Jews, who knew that wherever else they went they could only expect worse treatment than was meted out to them in Rome. So they pleaded with the Pope to reconsider the edict. The Pope, a fair-minded man, offered them a sporting proposition: Let the Jews appoint someone to debate with him in pantomime. If their spokesman won, the Jews might stay.

The Jews met to consider this proposal. To turn it down was to be evicted form Rome. To accept it was to court certain defeat, for who could win a debate in which the Pope was both participant and judge? Still, there was nothing for it but to accept. Only it was impossible to find someone to volunteer for the task of debating with the Pope. The burden of having the fate of the Jews on his shoulders was more than any one man could bear.

When the synagogue janitor heard what was going on, he came before the Chief Rabbi and volunteered to represent his people in the debate. "The janitor?" said the other rabbis when they heard of this. "Impossible!"

"Well, said the Chief Rabbi, "none of us is willing. It is either the janitor or no debate." Thus, for lack of anyone else the janitor was appointed to debate with the Pope.

When the great day arrived, the Pope sat on a throne in St. Peter's Square, surrounded by his cardinals, facing a large crowd of bishops, priests, and faithful. Presently the little Jewish delegation arrived in their black robes and flowing beards, with the janitor in their midst.

The Pope turned to face the janitor and the debate began. The Pope solemnly raised one finger and traced it across the heavens. The janitor promptly pointed with emphasis toward the ground. The Pope seemed somewhat taken aback. Even more solemnly, he raised one finger again and kept it firmly before the janitor's face. The janitor thereupon lifted three fingers and held them just as firmly before the Pope, who seemed astonished by the gesture. Then the Pope thrust his hand into his robes and pulled out an apple. Whereupon the janitor thrust his hand into his paper bag and pulled out a flat piece of matzo. At this the Pope exclaimed in a loud voice,
"The Jewish representative has won the debate. The edict of eviction is hereby revoked."

The Jewish leaders promptly surrounded the janitor and led him away. The cardinals clustered around the Pope in astonishment. "What happened, Your Holiness?" they asked. "It was impossible for us to follow the rapid thrust and parry of the debate."

The Pope wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "That man is a brilliant theologian, a master in debate. I began by sweeping my hand across the sky to indicate that the whole universe belongs to God. He thrust his finger downward to remind me that there is a place called Hell where the devil reigns supreme. I then raised one finger to signify that God is one. Imagine my shock when he raised three fingers to indicate that this one God manifests Himself equally in three persons, thereby subscribing to our own doctrine of the Trinity! Knowing that it was impossible to get the better of this theological genius, I finally shifted the debate to another area.
I pulled out an apple to indicate that according to some new-fangled ideas the earth is round. He instantly produced a flat piece of unleavened bread to remind me that, according to the Bible, the earth is flat. So there was nothing to do but concede the victory to him."

By now the Jews had arrived at their synagogue. "What happened?" they asked the janitor in bewilderment.

The janitor was indignant. "It was all a lot of rubbish," he said. "Look. First the Pope moves his hand like he is telling all the Jews to get out of Rome. So I pointed downward to make it clear to him that we were not going to budge. So he points a finger to me threateningly as if to say, 'Don't get fresh with me.' So I point three fingers to tell him he was thrice as fresh with us when he arbitrarily ordered us out of Rome. The next thing, I see him taking out his lunch. So I took out mine."

Anthony de Mello

Awareness(1)

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