Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality
by Anthony De Mello
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anthony De MelloEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1990-07-01
ISBN: 0385249373
Number of pages: 184
Publisher: Image
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780385249379
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality
Book Review: Awareness is Waking up to Spirituality
Summary: 3 Stars
Awareness is a compilation of De Mello's dialogues on spirituality awakening. De Mello dialogues have an in-your-face conversational style that is not what you'd expect from a Jesuit priest. He uses anecdotes to make his point and demystify enlightenment. The book is an easy read, perhaps too simplistic. On the other hand, it is also practical, with topics pertinent to our ordinary life experiences.
"Spirituality means waking up," explains De Mello. "Many of us, even though we don't know it, are asleep. We're born asleep, we live asleep, we marry in our sleep, we breed children in our sleep, we die in our sleep without ever waking up."
One of the underlying principles is the difference between interdependence and dependence. According to De Mello, interdependence is healthy and occurs when we have different roles in society, allowing us to interact and live more efficiently. Dependence is unhealthy and occurs when we depend on another for our happiness..
De Mello provides insight on religious dogma, insight that is pertinent to the religious battles that plague us to this day. "Scripture," he says, is "a hint, a clue, not a description. The fanaticism of one sincere believer who thinks they know causes more evil than the united efforts of two hundred rogues. The final barrier to the vision of God is your God concept. You miss God because you think you know. There is far too much God talk; the world is sick of it. There is too little dropping of illusions, dropping of errors, dropping of attachments and cruelty, too little awareness. That's what the world is suffering from, not from a lack of religion. Religion is supposed to be about awareness, of waking up. Look what we've degenerated into. Come to my country and see them killing one another over religion. You'll find it everywhere."
True faith is more than reciting scriptures. It is not something that can be worn on your sleeve. "Meditating on and imitating externally the behavior of Jesus is no help," says De Mello. "It's not a question of imitating Christ, it's a question of becoming what Jesus was. It's a question of becoming Christ, becoming aware, understanding what's going on within you. If you would die to the past, if you would die to every minute, you would be the person who is fully alive, because a fully alive person is one who is full of death. We're always dying to things. We're always shedding everything in order to be fully alive and to be resurrected at every moment."
In today's fear-based society, you may have forgotten what it feels like to be full of love and joy. "Happiness is our natural state," explains De Mello. "Happiness is the natural state of little children, to whom the kingdom belongs until they have been polluted and contaminated by the stupidity of society and culture." If you take the time to step away from your ego, you'll come to the realization that "Negative feelings are in you, not in reality. So stop trying to change reality. Stop trying to change the other person. We spend all our time and energy trying to change external circumstances, trying to change our spouses, our bosses, our friends, our enemies, and everybody else. We don't have to change anything. Negative feelings are in you. No person on earth has the power to make you unhappy. There is no event on earth that has the power to disturb you or hurt you." Awareness comes when we can step far enough back from our selves to drop our illusions and fantasies and reclaim the grace and magnificence of our creation.
Summary of Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality
Using humor, compassion, and insight, the beloved and best-selling Anthony de Mello teaches us to welcome the challenge of knowing ourselves and living the "aware" life.Happiness Books
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