The Effect of words
A guru was once attempting to explain to a crowd how human beings react to words, feed on words, live on words, rather than on reality.
One of the men stood up and protested; he said, "I don't agree that words have all that much effect on us."
The guru said, "Sit down, you son of a bitch."
The man went livid with rage and said,
"You call yourself an enlightened person, a guru, a master, but you ought to be ashamed of yourself."
The guru then said, "Pardon me, sir, I was carried away.
I really beg your pardon; that was a lapse; I'm sorry."
The man finally calmed down.
Then the guru said,
"It took just a few words to get a whole tempest going within you;
and it took just a few words to calm you down, didn't it?"
How many people spend their lives not eating food but eating the menu?
A menu is only an indication of something that's available.
You want to eat the steak, not the words.
Words, words, words, words,
how imprisoning they are if they're not used properly.
Awareness
Anthony de Mello
