Quotes from the book “Awakening” by Anthony De Mello
“We see people and things not as they are, but as we are.”
“If you are not happy, it only means that you are focusing on what you don’t have. Otherwise you would have to experience bliss.”
“Happiness is a butterfly: try to catch it and it will fly away. Sit still and it will rest on your shoulder.”
“If no one had told you that not being loved makes you unhappy, you would be happy. Another illusion: that external events or other people can hurt you. They can’t. It is you who gives them such power over you.”
“As you identify less and less with your self, you will ensure that you are more and more in touch with everything and everyone. And do you know why? Because you stop being afraid that someone will hurt you, that they won’t like you. You won’t desire to make a good impression on anyone. Can you imagine the relief of feeling liberated from this inner compulsion? What a relief! Happiness at last!”
“I meet people everywhere who have suddenly learned this truth: the root of evil is within you. When you finally understand this – you will stop demanding so much from yourself, expecting so much from yourself, forcing yourself to understand. Take care of yourself, provide yourself with wholesome good food. I’m not just thinking about food: I’m thinking about sunsets, nature, a good movie and a good book, work that gives you joy, good company and… hopefully you can break your addiction to the feelings of others.”
“Usually we try to cure our loneliness by becoming emotionally dependent on other people, through lots of company and noise. It doesn’t do anything,” he said. Go back to objects, go back to nature, go to the mountains. Then you will recognize that your heart has brought you to a vast desert of loneliness, that there is no one there to comfort you, absolutely no one.
At first it will seem unbearable, but only because you are not accustomed to loneliness. If you manage to persevere for a while, the desert will suddenly bloom with love. Your heart will burst into song. An eternal spring will reign there, you will abandon the drug and become free. You will then comprehend what freedom is, what love and happiness are; what reality is, truth is, what God is. You will know, your knowledge will enter beyond concepts and conditioning, addictions and attachments. Do you grasp the meaning of what I am saying?”
“If you are looking for strong sensations and thrills be prepared for depression. Do you crave the use of your drug? Be prepared to have a hangover after taking it. The movement of the pendulum in one direction entails movement in the opposite direction.”
“People adhere to the erroneous view that life means keeping the body alive. So love the thought of death, love it. Return to it constantly. Think about how wonderful this dead body is, the skeleton, the bones turning into a handful of dust. And then you will feel relief. Many of you probably don’t know what I’m talking about at the moment, you are too terrified by this thought. But it is a great relief to look back on life from this perspective.
So, imagine that you have died and are lying dead. Now look at your problems from this perspective. Doesn’t everything change? What a wonderful meditation. If you have time for it, repeat it every day. It may sound unbelievable, but it will bring you back to life.”
“One day you will realize that you are looking for what you already have.”
Soul selected from the book “Awakening”
