Religion (14)

"What a pretty baby you have there!"

"This is nothing! You should see his photographs!"

Words [and concepts] are indicators, not reflections, of reality. But, as the mystics of the East declare, "When the Sage points to the moon, all that the idiot sees is the finger!"

Anthony de Mello

Religion (12)

Pilot to passengers in midflight: "I regret to inform you we are in terrible trouble. Only God can save us now."

A passenger turned to a priest to ask what the pilot had said and got this reply: "He says there's no hope!"

Anthony de Mello

Religion (11)

A traveler was walking along the road one day when a man on horseback rushed by. There was an evil look in his eyes and blood on his hands.

Minutes later a crowd of riders drew up and wanted to know if the traveler had seen someone with blood on his hands go by. They were in hot pursuit of him

"Who is he?" the traveler asked.

"An evil-doer," said the leader of the crowd. "And you pursue him in order to bring him to justice?"

"No," said the leader, "we pursue him in order to show him the way."

Reconciliation alone will save the world, not justice which is generally another word for revenge.

Anthony de Mello

Religion (3)

Dov Ber was an uncommon man. When people came into his presence, they trembled. He was a Talmudic scholar of repute, inflexible, uncompromising in his doctrine. And he never laughed. He believed firmly in self-inflicted pain and was known to fast for days on end. Dov Ber's austerities finally got the better of him. He fell seriously ill and there was nothing the doctors could do to cure him. As a final resort, someone made a suggestion: "Why not seek the help of the Baal Shem Tov?"

Dov Ber agreed, even though at first he resisted the idea because he strongly disapproved of Baal Shem whom he considered to be something of a heretic. Also, while Dov Ber believed that life was only made meaningful by suffering and tribulation, Baal Shem sought to alleviate pain and openly preached that is was the spirit of rejoicing that gave meaning to life.

It was past midnight when Baal Shem answered the summons and drove up dressed in a coat of wool and a cap of the finest fur. He walked into the sick man's room and handed him the Book of Splendour, which Dov Ber opened and began to read aloud.

He had hardly read for a minute when, so the story goes, Baal Shem interrupted. "Something is missing," he said "Something is lacking in your faith."

"And what is that?" the sick man asked.

"Soul," said the Baal Shem Tov.

Anthony de Mello

Religion (1)

Weary traveler: "Why in the name of heaven did they build the railway station three kilometers away from the village?"

Helpful porter: "They must have thought it would be a good idea to have it near the trains, sir."

An ultramodern station three kilometers away from the track is as much of an absurdity as a much-frequented temple three centimeters away from life.

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 (20)

The Guru meditating in his Himalayan cave opened his eyes to discover an unexpected visitor sitting there before him - the abbot of a well-known monastery.

"What is it you seek?" asked the Guru.

The abbot recounted a tale of woe. At one time his monastery had been famous throughout the western world. Its cells were filled with young aspirants and its church resounded to the chant of its monks. But hard times had come on the monastery. People no longer flocked there to nourish their spirits, the stream of young aspirants had dried up, the church was silent. There was only a handful of monks left and these went about their duties with heavy hearts.

Now this is what the abbot wanted to know: "is it because of some sin of ours that the monastery has been reduced to this state?"

"Yes," said the Guru, "a sin of ignorance."

"And what sin might that be?"

"One of your number is the Messiah in disguise and you are ignorant of this." Having said that the Guru closed his eyes and returned to his meditation.

Throughout the arduous journey back to his monastery the abbot's heart beat fast at the thought that the Messiah - the Messiah himself - had returned to earth and was right there in the monastery. How was it he had failed to recognize him? And who could it be? Brother Cook? Brother Sacristan? Brother Treasurer? Brother Prior? No, not he; he had too many defects, alas. But then, the Guru had said he was in disguise. Could those defects be one of his disguises? Come to think of it, everyone in the monastery had defects. And one of them had to be the Messiah!

Back in the monastery he assembled the monks and told them what he had discovered. They looked at one another in disbelief. The Messiah? Here? Incredible! But he was supposed to be here is disguise. So, maybe. What if it were so-and-so? Or the other one over there? Or . . .

One thing was certain. If the Messiah was there in disguise, it was not likely that they would recognize him. So they took to treating everyone with respect and consideration. "You never know," they said to themselves when they dealt with one another, "maybe this is the one."

The result of this was that the atmosphere in the monastery became vibrant with joy. Soon dozens of aspirants were seeking admission to the Order - and once again the church echoed with the holy and joyful chant of monks who were aglow with the spirit of love.

Of what use is it to have eyes if the heart is blind?

Anthony de Mello

Awareness (19)

The priest of a fashionable parish had his ushers greet the people after Sunday service. His wife persuaded him to take on this task himself. "Wouldn't it be awful if, after some years, you were not to know the members of your own parish?" she said.

So the following Sunday the priest took up his post at the church door after service. The first one out of church was a woman in plain clothes, evidently a newcomer to the parish.

"How do you do? I am very glad to have you here with us," he said, offering her his hand.

"Thanks you," said the woman, somewhat taken aback.

"I hope we will see you often at our services. We are always glad to see new faces, you know."

"Yes, sir."

"Do you live in this parish?"

The woman seemed at a loss what to say.

"If you give me your address, my wife and I will call on you some evening."

"You wouldn't have to go far, sir. I'm your cook."

Anthony de Mello

Awareness (15)

Grandpa and Grandma had quarreled and Grandma was so angry she would not speak to her husband.

The following day Grandpa had forgotten all about the quarrel, but Grandma continued to ignore him and still wouldn't speak. Nothing Grandpa did seemed to succeed in pulling her out of her sullen silence.

Finally he started rummaging in cupboards and drawers. After this had gone on for a few minutes, Grandma could stand it no longer. "What on earth are you looking for?" she demanded angrily.

"Praise be to God, I've found it," said Grandpa with a sly smile. "Your voice!"


If it is God you are looking for, look somewhere else.

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 (8)

A woman in the grocery department of a supermarket bent down to pick up some tomatoes. At that moment she felt a sharp pain shooting down her back; she became immobilized and let out a shriek.

A shopper standing next to her leaned over knowingly and said, "If you think tomatoes are bad, you should see the price of the fish!"

Is it Reality you are responding to or your assumptions about it?

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 (2)

Three wise men set out on a journey, for even though they were considered wise in their own country, they were humble enough to hope that travel would broaden their minds .

They had barely crossed into a neighboring country when they saw a skyscraper in the distance. What could this enormous object be? they asked themselves. The obvious procedure would have been to go up and find out. But no - that might be too dangerous. Suppose it was something that exploded as one approached? It was altogether wiser to decide what it was before finding out. Various theories were put forward, examined and on the basis of their past experiences, rejected. Finally, it was determined, also on the basis of past experience, of which they had an abundant supply, that the object in question, whatever it was, could only have been placed there by giants.

This led them to the conclusion that it would be safer to avoid this country altogether. So they went back home, having added something to their fund of experience.


Assumptions affect Observation. Observation breeds Conviction. Conviction produces Experience. Experience generates Behavior, which, in turn, confirms Assumptions.

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

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