Friendship

Friendship

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance;

they make the latitudes and longitudes.

Henry David Thoreau

Identity

Identity

I am who I am
&
I am who I am not!

Strangeness

Strangeness

It is strange that people feel themselves foreigners at their own home
and then find home in exile!

Being

Being

I m God, I’m Creature
Paradise I am Lord and Servant
I am Throne and Trodden Path
Both Hell and Paradise
I am water, I am fire
I am air and naked Earth
I am quantity, I am quality
I am existence and absence
I am substance, I am Appearance
Both the Near and the Far
All dualities are mine:
I am alone, I am individual!

Abdelkader Al Djazairi
`Abd al-Qādir al-Jazā'irī (6 September 1808 - 26 May 1883, in Arabic عبد القادر الجزائري) was an Algerian Islamic scholar, Sufi, political and military leader who led a struggle against the French invasion in the mid-nineteenth century, for which he is seen by the Algerians as their national hero.

Valour

Valour

Can we escape from death?

The days of human beings are numbered

Everything they do is vain

If you are already afraid of death

What is the use of calling yourself a hero?

Shall I go first

Walk in front of you?

If I fall

My name will gain eternal fame

I will have begun the struggles

To cut down the cedars

Epic of Gilgamesh

(2500 B.C.)

The Inventor of Fire

4

The Inventor of Fire

After many years of labour an inventor discovered the art of making fire.
He took his tools to the snow-clad northern regions and initiated a tribe into the art -and the advantages- of making fire.
The people became so absorbed in this novelty that it did not occur to them to thank the inventor who one day quietly slipped away.
Being one of those rare human beings endowed with greatness, he had no desire to be remembered or revered; all he sought was the satisfaction of knowing that someone had benefited from his discovery.
The next tribe he went to was just as eager to learn as the first.
But the local priests, jealous of the stranger’s hold on the people, had him assassinated.
To allay any suspicion of the crime, they had a portrait of the Great Inventor enthroned upon the main altar of the temple;
and a liturgy designed so that his name would be revered and his memory kept alive.
The greatest care was taken that not a single rubric of the liturgy was altered or omitted.
The tools for making fire were enshrined within a casket and were said to bring healing to all who laid their hands on them with faith.
The High Priest himself undertook the task of compiling a Life of the Inventor.
This became the Holy book in which his loving kindness was offered as an example for all to emulate,
his glorious deeds were eulogized, his superhuman nature made an article of faith.
The priests saw to it that the Book was handed down to future generations,
while they authoritatively interpreted the meaning of his words and the significance of his holy life and death.
And they ruthlessly punished with death or excommunication anyone who deviated from their doctrine.
Caught up as they were in these religious tasks, the people completely forgot the art of making fire.

THE PRAYER OF THE FROG, 1

Anthony de Mello

On purifying our vision

On purifying our vision

American missionaries who went to the South Sea Islands with their wives were horrified to see women coming bare breasted to church.
The wives insisted that the women should be more decently dressed.
So the missionaries gave them shirts to wear.
The following Sunday the women came wearing their shirts but with two big holes cut out for comfort' for ventilation.
They were right; the missionaries were wrong.

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

Every child has a god in him; our attempts to mold the child will turn the god into a devil.

Every child has a god in him;

our attempts to mold the child will turn the god into a devil.

There’s a lovely Italian film directed by Federico Fellini, 8 ½.
In one scene there’s a Christian Brother going out on a picnic or excursion with a group of eight to ten year old boys.
They’re on a beach, moving right on ahead while the Brother brings up the rear with three or four of them around him.
They come across an older woman, who’s a whore, and they say to her,
“Hi,”
and she says, “Hi.”
And they say, “Who are you?”
And she says, “I’m a prostitute.”
They don’t know what that is but they pretend to.
One of the boys, who seems a bit more knowing than the others, says, “A prostitute is a woman who does certain things if you pay her.”
They ask, “Would she do those things if we paid her?”
“Why not?” the answer came.
So they take up a collection and give her the money, saying, “Would you do certain things now that we’ve given you the money?”
She answers, “Sure, kids, what do you want me to do?”
The only thing that occurs to the kids is for her to take her clothes off.
So she does.
Well, they look at her; they’ve never seen a woman naked before.
They don’t know what else to do, so they say, “Would you dance?”
She says, “Sure.”
So they all gather round singing and clapping; the whore is moving her behind and they’re enjoying themselves immensely.
The Brother sees all this. He runs down the beach and yells at the woman.
He gets her to put her clothes on, and the narrator says:
“At that moment, the children were spoiled; until then they were innocent, beautiful.”

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

Words

Words

Awakening should be a surprise. When you don't expect something to happen and it happens, you feel surprise. When Webster's wife caught him kissing the maid, she told him she was very surprised. Now, Webster was a stickler for using words accurately (understandably, since he wrote a dictionary), so he answered her, "No, my dear, I am surprised. You are astonished!"

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

How to solve problems?

How to solve problems?

This reminds me of this fellow in London after the war.
He’s sitting with a parcel wrapped in brown paper in his lap; it's a big, heavy object.
The bus conductor comes up to him and says, “What do you have on your lap there?”
And the man says, “This is an unexploded bomb. We dug it out of the garden and I’m taking it to the police station.”
The conductor says, “You don't want to carry that on your lap. Put it under the seat.”

Psychology and spirituality (as we generally understand it) transfer the bomb from your lap to under your seat.
They don’t really solve your problems. They exchange your problems for other problems.
Has that ever struck you?
You had a problem, now you exchange it for another one. It’s always going to be that way until we solve the problem called “you.”

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

What is awakening like?

What is awakening like?

There’s a story about Ramirez.
He is old and living up there in his castle on a hill.
He looks out the window (he’s in bed and paralyzed) and he sees his enemy.
Old as he is, leaning on a cane, his enemy is climbing up the hill - slowly, painfully.
It takes him about two and a half hours to get up the hill.
There’s nothing Ramirez can do because the servants have the day off.
So his enemy opens the door, comes straight to the bedroom, puts his hand inside his cloak, and pulls out a gun.
He says, “At last, Ramirez, we’re going to settle scores!”
Ramirez tries his level best to talk him out of it.
He says, “Come on, Borgia, you can’t do that.
You know I’m no longer the man who ill-treated you as that youngster years ago, and you’re no longer that youngster. Come off it!”
“Oh no,” says his enemy, “your sweet words aren’t going to deter me from this divine mission of mine. It’s revenge I want and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
And Ramirez says, “But there is!”
“What?” asks his enemy.
“I can wake up,” says Ramirez. And he did; he woke up!

That’s what enlightenment is like.
When someone tells you, “There is nothing you can do about it,”
you say, “There is, I can wake up!”

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

The tramp: “What is enlightenment like?”

The tramp

“What is enlightenment like?”

“What is enlightenment like? What is awakening like?”
It's like the tramp in London who was settling in for the night.
He'd hardly been able to get a crust of bread to eat.
Then he reaches this embankment on the river Thames.
There was a slight drizzle, so he huddled in his old tattered cloak.
He was about to go to sleep when suddenly a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce pulls up. Out of the car steps a beautiful young lady who says to him,
“My poor man, are you planning on spending the night here on this embankment?”
And the tramp says, “Yes.”
She says, “I won't have it. You're coming to my house and you're going to spend a comfortable night and you're going to get a good dinner.”
She insists on his getting into the car.
Well, they ride out of London and get to a place where she has a sprawling mansion with large grounds. They are ushered in by the butler, to whom she says, “James, please make sure he's put in the servants' quarters and treated well,” which is what James does.
The young lady had undressed and was about to go to bed when she suddenly remembers her guest for the night.
So she slips something on and pads along the corridor to the servants' quarters. She sees a little chink of light from the room where the tramp was put up. She taps lightly at the door, opens it, and finds the man awake.
She says, “What's the trouble, my good man, didn't you get a good meal?”
He said, “Never had a better meal in my life, lady.”
“Are you warm enough?”
He says, “Yes, lovely warm bed.”
Then she says, “Maybe you need a little company. Why don't you move over a bit?”
And she comes closer to him and he moves over and falls right into the Thames.

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

Stubbornness

Stubbornness

“Henry, how you've changed!
You were so tall and you've grown so short.
You were so well built and you've grown so thin.
You were so fair and you've become so dark.
What happened to you, Henry?”
Henry says, “I'm not Henry. I'm John.”
“Oh, you changed your name too!”

How do you get people like that to listen?

The most difficult thing in the world is to listen, to see. We don't want to see.

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

Johnny, the mentally retarded

Johnny, the mentally retarded

There's the story of little Johnny who, they say, was mentally retarded. But evidently he wasn't, as you'll learn from this story. Johnny goes to modelling class in his school for special children and he gets his piece of putty and he's modelling it. He takes a little lump of putty and goes to a corner of the room and he's playing with it. The teacher comes up to him and says, "Hi, Johnny." And Johnny says, "Hi." And the teacher says, "What's that you've got in your hand?" And Johnny says, "This is a lump of cow dung." The teacher asks, "What are you making out of it?" He says, "I'm making a teacher." The teacher thought, "Little Johnny has regressed." So she calls out to the principal, who was passing by the door at that moment, and says, "Johnny has regressed." So the principal goes up to Johnny and says, "Hi, son." And Johnny says, "Hi." And the principal says, "What do you have in your hand?" And he says, "A lump of cow dung." "What are you making out of it?" And he says, "A principal." The principal thinks that this is a case for the school psychologist. "Send for the psychologist!" The psychologist is a clever guy. He goes up and says, "Hi." And Johnny says, "Hi." And the psychologist says, "I know what you've got in your hand." "What?" "A lump cow dung." Johnny says, "Right." "And I know what you're making out of it." "What?" "You're making a psychologist." "Wrong. Not enough cow dung!" And they called him mentally retarded!

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

A banana in your ear

A banana in your ear

Don't try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it irritates the pig!

Like the businessman who goes into a bar, sits down, and sees this fellow with a banana in his ear - a banana in his ear!
And he thinks, “I wonder if I should mention that to him. No, it's none of my business.”
But the thought nags at him. So after having a drink or two, he says to the fellow, “Excuse me, ah, you've got a banana in your ear.”
The fellow says, “What?”
The businessman repeats, “You've got a banana in your ear.”
Again the fellow says, “What was that?”
“You've got a banana in your ear!” the businessman shouts.
“Talk louder,” the fellow says, “I've got a banana in my ear!”

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

Being supported

Being supported

There was a woman in a therapy group I was conducting once. She was a religious sister. She said to me, “I don’t feel supported by my superior.” So I said, “What do you mean by that?” And she said, “Well, my superior, the provincial superior, never shows up at the novitiate where I am in charge, never. She never says a word of appreciation.” I said to her, “All right let's do a little role playing. Pretend I know your provincial superior. In fact, pretend I know exactly what she thinks about you. So I say to you (acting the part of the provincial superior), 'You know, Mary, the reason I don't come to that place you're in is because it is the one place in the province that is trouble-free, no problems. I know you're in charge, so all is well.' How do you feel now?” She said, “I feel great.”
Then I said to her, “All right, would you mind leaving the room for a minute or two? This is part of the exercise.” So she did. While she was away, I said to the others in the therapy group, “I am still the provincial superior, O.K.? Mary out there is the worst novice director I have ever had in the whole history of the province. In fact, the reason I don't go to the novitiate is because I can't bear to see what she is up to. It's simply awful. But if I tell her the truth, it's only going to make those novices suffer all the more. We are getting somebody to take her place in a year or two; we are training someone. In the meantime I thought I would say those nice things to her to keep her going. What do you think of that?” They answered, “Well, it was really the only thing you could do under the circumstances.” Then I brought Mary back into the group and asked her if she still felt great. “Oh yes,” she said.

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

The rain

The nature of the rain

"The nature of rain is the same,

but it makes thorns grow in the marshes and flowers in the gardens."

Arabic Proverb

Whistler’s kids

9

Whistler’s kids

In the early 1850s American painter, James McNeill Whistler, spent a brief-and academically unsuccessful-period at West Point, the U.S. Military Academy. The story goes that when he was assigned to draw a bridge he drew a romantic stone one, complete with grassy banks and two small children fishing from it. “Get those children off that bridge!” said the instructor. “This is an engineering exercise.”
Whistler got the kids off the bridge, drew them fishing from the bank of the river and resubmitted the drawing. The angry instructor yelled, “I told you to remove those children. Get them completely out of the picture!”
But the creative urge was too strong .in Whistler. His next version had the children “completely out of the picture” indeed. They were buried under two small tombstones on the river bank.

PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 2
Anthony de Mello

Looking at a famous island

8

Looking at a famous island

The old man had lived most of his life on what was considered to be one of the loveliest islands in the world.
Now that he had returned to spend his retirement years in the big city someone said to him, “It must have been wonderful lo live for so many years on an island that is considered one of the wonders of the world.”
The old man gave that some thought, then said, “Well, to tell you the truth, if I had known it was so famous, I’d have looked at it.”

People don’t need to be taught how to look.
They merely need to be saved from schools that blind them.

PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 2
Anthony de Mello

I’ve forgotten how to stop

7

I’ve forgotten how to stop

Andrew Carnegie, one of the richest men in the world was once asked: “You could have stopped any time, couldn’t you, because you always had much more than you needed?”
He replied: “Yes, that’s right. But I could not stop, I had forgotten how to.”

Many fear that if they stopped to think and wonder they might not be able to get started again.

PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 2
Anthony de Mello

Profit

Profit

What's the earthly use of putting a man on the moon

when we cannot live on the earth?

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

Collection rocks on the moon

6

Collection rocks on the moon

One of the few men to walk on the moon tells how he had to suppress his artistic instincts when he got there.

He remembered looking back at Earth and being enraptured by the sight. For a while he stood rooted to the ground, thinking. “My, that’s lovely!”

Then he quickly shook the mood off and said to himself, “Stop wasting your lime and go collect rocks.”

There are two educations:
the one that teaches how to make a living
and the one that teaches how to live.

PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 2
Anthony de Mello

Awareness

Awareness

Last year on Spanish television I heard a story about this gentleman who knocks on his son's door.

“Jaime,” he says, “wake up!” Jaime answers, “I don’t want to get up, papa.”

The father shouts, “Get up, you have to go to school.”

Jaime says, “I don’t want to go to school.”

“Why not?” asks the father.

“Three reasons,” says Jaime.

“First, because it's so dull; second, the kids tease me; and third, I hate school.”

And the father says, “Well, I am going to give you three reasons why you must go to school:

First, because it is your duty; second, because you are forty-five years old, and third, because you are the headmaster.”

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

Life is...

Someone said:

"Life is something that happens to us

while we're busy making other plans."

John Lennon

The eagle's egg

The eagle's egg

A man found an eagle's egg and put it in a nest of a barnyard hen. The eaglet hatched with the brood of chicks and grew up with them.

All his life the eagle did what the barnyard chicks did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He scratched the earth for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he would thrash his wings and fly a few feet into the air.

Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in graceful majesty among the powerful wind currents, with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.

The old eagle looked up in awe. "Who's that?" he asked. "That's the eagle, the king of the birds," said his neighbour. "He belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth we're chickens."

So the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that's what he thought he was.

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

Chosen to clap and cheer

5

Chosen to clap and cheer

Little Johnny was being tried out for a part in the school play. His mother knew that he had set his heart on it but she feared he would not be chosen. On the day the parts were given out. Johnny, back from school, rushed into his mother’s arms, bursting with pride and excitement. “Mother.” he shouted, “guess what! I’ve been chosen to clap and cheer.”

From a child’s report card: “Samuel participates very nicely in the group singing by helpful listening.”

PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 2
Anthony de Mello

The applauding angel

4

The applauding angel

An ancient legend has it that when God was creating the world He was approached by four angels. The first one asked, “How are you doing it?” The second, “Why are you doing it?” the third, “Can I be of help?” The fourth, “What is it worth?”

The first was a scientist; the second, a philosopher; the third, an altruist; and the fourth, a real estate agent.

A fifth angel watched in wonder and applauded in sheer delight. This one was the mystic.

PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 2
Anthony de Mello

Cod-liver oil for the dog

3

Cod-liver oil for the dog

A man began to give large doses of cod-liver oil to his Doberman because he had been told that the stuff was good for dogs. Each day he would hold the head of the protesting dog between his knees force its jaws open and pour the liquid down its throat.

One day the dog broke loose and spilt the oil on the floor. Then, to the man’s great surprise, it returned to lick the spoon. That is when he discovered that what the dog had been fighting was not the oil but his method of administering it.

PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 2
Anthony de Mello

A neurotic child?

2
A neurotic child?

Little Mary was on the beach with her mother.
‘Mummy, may I play in the sand?”
“No, darling. You’ll only soil your clean clothes.
“May I wade in the water?”
“No. You’ll get wet and catch a cold.
“May I play with the other children?”
“No. You’ll get lost in the crowd.”
‘Mummy, buy me an ice-cream.
“No. It’s bad for your throat.”
Little Mary began to cry.

Mother turned to a woman who was standing near by and said. “For heaven’s sake! Have you ever seen such a neurotic child?”

PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 2
Anthony de Mello

Life is a banquet

Life is a banquet

Life is a banquet. And the tragedy is that most people are starving to death. That's what I'm really talking about. There's a nice story about some people who were on a raft off the coast of Brazil perishing from thirst. They had no idea that the water they were floating on was fresh water. The river was coming out into the sea with such force that it went out for a couple of miles, so they had fresh water right there where they were. But they had no idea. In the same way, we're surrounded with joy, with happiness, with love. Most people have no idea of this whatsoever. The reason: They're brainwashed. The reason: They're hypnotized; they're asleep.

Awareness

Anthony de Mello

ILLUSION OF THE FEAR

162

ILLUSION OF THE FEAR

Samuel was down in the dumps and who could blame him? His landlord had ordered him out of the apart­ment and he had nowhere to go. Suddenly light dawn­ed. He could live with his good friend Moshe. The thought brought Samuel much comfort, until it was assailed by another thought that said, “What makes you so sure that Moshe will put you up at his place?” “Why wouldn’t he?” said Samuel to the thought, somewhat heatedly, “After all it is I who found him the place he is living in now; and it was I who advanced him the money to pay his rent for the first six months. Surely the least he could do is put me up for a week or so when I am in trouble.”
That settled the matter, until after dinner he was once again assailed by the thought: “Suppose he were to refuse?” “Refuse?” said Samuel, “Why in God’s name would he refuse? The man owes me everything he has.
It is I who got him his job; it is I who introduced him to that lovely wife of his who has borne him the three sons he glories in. Will he grudge me a room for a week? Impossible!”
That settled the matter, until he got to bed and found he couldn’t sleep because the thought came back to say, “But just suppose he were to refuse. What then?” This was too much for Samuel. “How the hell could he refuse?” he said, his temper rising now. “If the man is alive today it is because of me. I saved him from drowning when he was a kid. Will he be so ungrateful as to turn me out into the streets in the middle of winter?”
But the thought was persistent. “Just suppose...” Poor Samuel struggled with it as long as he could. Finally he got out of bed around two in the morning, went over to where Moshe lived and kept his finger pressed against the doorbell button till Moshe, half asleep, opened the door and said in astonishment, “Samuel! What is it? What brings you here in the middle of the night?” Samuel was so angry by now he couldn’t keep himself from yelling, “I’ll tell you what brings me here at this hour of the night! If you think I’m going to ask you to put me up even for a single day, you’re mistaken. I don’t want to have anything to do with you, your house, your wife or your family. To hell with you all!” With that he turned on his heel and walked away.

THE PRAYER OF THE FROG 2

Anthony de Mello

“She thinks I’m real!”

1

“She thinks I’m real!”

The family settled down for dinner at the restaurant. The waitress first took the order of the adults, then, turned to the seven-year-old.
“What will you have?” she asked.
The boy looked around the table timidly and said, “I would like to have a hot dog.”
Before the waitress could write down the order the mother interrupted. “No hot dogs,” she said. “Get him a steak with mashed potatoes and carrots.”
The waitress ignored her, “Do you want ketchup or mustard on your hot dog?” she asked the boy.
“Ketchup.”
“Coming up in a minute,” said the waitress as she started for the kitchen.
There was a stunned silence when she left. Finally the boy looked at everyone present and said. “Know what? She thinks I’m real!”

“How are your children?”
“Both of them are very well thanking you.”
“How old are they?”
The doctor is three and the lawyer is five.

THE PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 2

Anthony de Mello

THE GREAT REVELATION

THE GREAT REVELATION

A Guru promised a scholar a revelation of greater con sequence than anything contained in the scriptures.

When the scholar eagerly asked for it,

the Guru said, “Go out into the rain and raise your head and arms heavenward.

That will bring you the first revelation.”

The next day the scholar came to report:

“I followed your advice and water flowed down my neck, and I felt like a perfect fool.”

“Well.” said the Guru, “for the first day that’s quite a revelation, isn’t it?”



The poet Kabir says:

What good is it if the scholar pores over words and points of this and that but his chest is not soaked dark with love?

What good is it if the ascetic clothes himself in saffron robes but is colourless within?

What good is it if you scrub your ethical behaviour till it shines, but there is no music inside?




Disciple: What’s the difference between knowledge and enlightenment?


Master: When you have knowledge you use a torch to show the way.


When you are enlightened you become a torch.

THE PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 1

Anthony de Mello

THE PRAYER OF THE FROG

1

THE PRAYER OF THE FROG

When Brother Bruno was at prayer one night he was disturbed by the croaking of a bullfrog.

All his attempts to disregard the sound were unsuccessful so he shouted from his window, “Quiet! I’m at my prayers.”

Now Brother Bruno was a saint so his command was instantly obeyed.

Every living creature held its voice so as to create a silence that would be favourable to prayer.

But now another sound intruded on Bruno’s worship- an inner voice that said,

“Maybe God is as pleased with the croaking of that frog as with the chanting of your psalms.”

“What can please the ears of God in the croak of a frog?” was Bruno’s scornful rejoinder.

But the voice refused to give up: “Why would you think God invented the sound?”

Bruno decided to find out why.

He leaned out of his window and gave the order, “Sing!”

The bullfrog’s measured croaking filled the air to the ludicrous accompaniment of all the frogs in the vicinity.

And as Bruno attended to the sound,

their voices ceased to jar for he discovered that,

if he stopped resisting them,

they actually enriched the silence of the night.


With that discovery Bruno’s heart became harmonious with the universe and, for the first time in his life he understood what it means to pray.

THE PRAYER OF THE FROG PART 1

Anthony de Mello