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The Way to Love: The Last Meditations of Anthony de Mello (Image Pocket Classics) Paperback – June 1, 1995
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The Way To Love contains the final flowering of Anthony de Mello's thought, and in it he grapples with the ultimate question of love. In thirty-one meditations, he implores his readers with his usual pithiness to break through illusion, the great obstacle to love. "Love springs from awareness," de Mello insists, saying that it is only when we see others as they are that we can begin to really love. But not only must we seek to see others with clarity, we must examine ourselves without misconception. The task, however, is not easy. "The most painful act," de Mello says, "is the act of seeing. But in that act of seeing that love is born." Anthony De Mello was the director of the Sadhana Institute of Pastoral Counseling in Poona, India, and authored several books. The Way To Love is his last.
- Print length196 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherImage
- Publication dateJune 1, 1995
- Dimensions3.5 x 0.46 x 4.99 inches
- ISBN-10038524939X
- ISBN-13978-0385249393
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About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Years ago, when I first heard of Tony de Mello, S.J., I didn’t believe what I heard. The story I am about to tell has bearing on the book you are about to read.
I was told that Tony gave a retreat to sixty fellow Jesuit priests and spoke to them six hours a day for eight days. I remember saying, “No Jesuit listens to another Jesuit six hours a day for eight days.” When the fact was insisted on, I remember asking, “Who made that retreat?” The names of some very impressive Jesuits (impressive, at least, to me) were mentioned. It was then, like doubting Thomas in the Scriptures, I said, “This I have to see and hear for myself.”
Thus began the journey with the man who would affect my life so profoundly that, years later, I wouldn’t even recognize the person I was those years past. And not I alone, but thousands of others like me.
The occasion of my first meeting Tony de Mello now seems rather prosaic. He was asked to give a weekend retreat to a group of lay people. He agreed to do this on his way back to India from Rome. I asked to be put on that retreat just to meet and experience the man. It was an unforgettable weekend up in Saddle River, New Jersey, amid the snows of February.
I will never forget the feeling of liberation; the sense he made of spirituality, of prayer, of the meaning of life; his humor; his marvelous storytelling. And it was all done in such a personal style. Years later, when he was speaking by television satellite to more than three thousand college students, he maintained that personal style. “About twelve years ago,” he remarked, “I discovered something that revolutionized my life.” He had met a rickshaw driver in Calcutta named Rinsai, who, although he was dying of a painful disease and was so poor that he had to sell his skeleton before he died, still was a man filled with faith and interior joy. “I suddenly realized,” Tony continued, “I was in the presence of a mystic who had rediscovered life. He was alive; I was dead. He was a man who had reincarnated himself during this life.”
The reason I say that the story of my meeting Tony has bearing on the book you are about to read is because when I came upon this manuscript, although I was very familiar with all that he had written (and spoken), I was amazed at how these small but powerful “meditations” evoked in me the same feelings I experienced when I first encountered him. Just reading through these pages brought back the wonderful sense of challenge, the spiritual provocation that Tony was such a master at providing. There was a basic honesty in Tony de Mello’s character with which he reevaluated everything in his own life. And it was this honesty that he communicated so effectively to all who would listen. His analogies, his stories, his telling criticism of sacred cows—all brilliantly peppered throughout this book—inspired in me a like revaluation of my own life, and I have never regretted it.
Take each one of these meditations and carry them with you throughout your day. Challenge his ideas, mull over his thoughts, and then be silent. You will notice an effortless transformation taking place in your heart, the awakening experience of insight, the wonderful peace you experience when you gaze at the stars or watch a beautiful sunrise or glimpse a soft look of love in the eyes of your beloved. This is the effect these spiritual gems will have. All you need bring to them is a full heart and an inquiring mind.
J. Francis Stroud, S.J. The Center for Spiritual Exchange Fordham University Bronx, N.Y.
Profit and Loss
For what will it profit a man, if he
gains the whole world and forfeits
his life?
—Matthew 16:26
Recall the kind of feeling you have when someone praises you, when you are approved, accepted, applauded. And contrast that with the kind of feeling that arises within you when you look at the sunset or the sunrise or Nature in general, or when you read a book or watch a movie that you thoroughly enjoy. Get the taste of this feeling and contrast it with the first, namely, the one that was generated within you when you were praised. Understand that the first type of feeling comes from self-glorification, self-promotion. It is a worldly feeling. The second comes from self-fulfillment, a soul feeling.
Here is another contrast: Recall the kind of feeling you have when you succeed, when you have made it, when you get to the top, when you win a game or a bet or an argument. And contrast it with the kind of feeling you get when you really enjoy the job you are doing, you are absorbed in, the action that you are currently engaged in. And once again notice the qualitative difference between the worldly feeling and the soul feeling.
Yet another contrast: Remember what you felt like when you had power, you were the boss, people looked up to you, took orders from you; or when you were popular. And contrast that worldly feeling with the feeling of intimacy, companionship—the times you thoroughly enjoyed yourself in the company of a friend or with a group in which there was fun and laughter.
Having done this, attempt to understand the true nature of worldly feelings, namely, the feelings of self-promotion, self-glorification. They are not natural, they were invented by your society and your culture to make you productive and to make you controllable. These feelings do not produce the nourishment and happiness that is produced when one contemplates Nature or enjoys the company of one’s friends or one’s work. They were meant to produce thrills, excitement—and emptiness.
Then observe yourself in the course of a day or a week and think how many actions of yours are performed, how many activities engaged in that are uncontaminated by the desire for these thrills, these excitements that only produce emptiness, the desire for attention, approval, fame, popularity, success or power.
And take a look at the people around you. Is there a single one of them who has not become addicted to these worldly feelings? A single one who is not controlled by them, hungers for them, spends every minute of his/her waking life consciously or unconsciously seeking them? When you see this you will understand how people attempt to gain the world and, in the process, lose their soul. For they live empty, soulless lives.
And here is a parable of life for you to ponder on: A group of tourists sits in a bus that is passing through gorgeously beautiful country; lakes and mountains and green fields and rivers. But the shades of the bus are pulled down. They do not have the slightest idea of what lies beyond the windows of the bus. And all the time of their journey is spent in squabbling over who will have the seat of honor in the bus, who will be applauded, who will be well considered. And so they remain till the journey’s end.
Discipleship
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
—Luke 14:26
Take a look at the world and see the unhappiness around you and in you. Do you know what causes this unhappiness? You will probably say loneliness or oppression or war or hatred or atheism. And you will be wrong. There is only one cause of unhappiness: the false beliefs you have in your head, beliefs so widespread, so commonly held, that it never occurs to you to question them. Because of these false beliefs you see the world and yourself in a distorted way. Your programming is so strong and the pressure of society so intense that you are literally trapped into perceiving the world in this distorted kind of way. There is no way out, because you do not even have a suspicion that your perception is distorted, your thinking is wrong, and your beliefs are false.
Look around and see if you can find a single genuinely happy person—fearless, free from insecurities, anxieties, tensions, worries. You would be lucky if you found one in a hundred thousand. This should lead you to be suspicious of the programming and the beliefs that you and they hold in common. But you have also been programmed not to suspect, not to doubt, just to trust the assumptions that have been put into you by your tradition, your culture, your society, your religion. And if you are not happy, you have been trained to blame yourself, not your programming, not your cultural and inherited ideas and beliefs. What makes it even worse is the fact that most people are so brainwashed that they do not even realize how unhappy they are—like the man in a dream who has no idea he is dreaming.
What are these false beliefs that block you from happiness? Here are some examples. First: You cannot be happy without the things that you are attached to and that you consider so precious. False. There is not a single moment in your life when you do not have everything that you need to be happy. Think of that for a minute. The reason why you are unhappy is because you are focusing on what you do not have rather than on what you have right now.
Another belief: Happiness is in the future. Not true. Right here and now you are happy and you do not know it because your false beliefs and your distorted perceptions have got you caught up in fears, anxieties, attachments, conflicts, guilt and a host of games that you are programmed to play. If you would see through this you would realize that you are happy and do not know it.
Yet another belief: Happiness will come if you manage to change the situation you are in and the people around you. Not true. You stupidly squander so much energy trying to rearrange the world. If changing the world is your vocation in life, go right ahead and change it, but do not harbor the illusion that this is going to make you happy. What makes you happy or unhappy is not the world and the people around you, but the thinking in your head. As well search for an eagle’s nest on the bed of an ocean, as search for happiness in the world outside of you. So if it is happiness that you seek you can stop wasting your energy trying to cure your baldness or build up an attractive body or change your residence or job or community or lifestyle or even your personality. Do you realize that you could change every one of these things, you could have the finest looks and the most charming personality and the most pleasant of surroundings and still be unhappy? And deep down you know this is true but still you waste your effort and energy trying to get what you know cannot make you happy.
Another false belief: If all your desires are fulfilled you will be happy. Not true. In fact it is these very desires and attachments that make you tense, frustrated, nervous, insecure and fearful. Make a list of all your attachments and desires and to each of them say these words: “Deep down in my heart I know that even after I have got you I will not get happiness.” And ponder on the truth of those words. The fulfillment of desire can, at the most, bring flashes of pleasure and excitement. Don’t mistake that for happiness.
What then is happiness? Very few people know and no one can tell you, because happiness cannot be described. Can you describe light to people who have been sitting in darkness all their lives? Can you describe reality to someone in a dream? Understand your darkness and it will vanish; then you will know what light is. Understand your nightmare for what it is and it will stop; then you will wake up to reality. Understand your false beliefs and they will drop; then you will know the taste of happiness.
If people want happiness so badly, why don’t they attempt to understand their false beliefs? First, because it never occurs to them to see them as false or even as beliefs. They see them as facts and reality, so deeply have they been programmed. Second, because they are scared to lose the only world they know: the world of desires, attachments, fears, social pressures, tensions, ambitions, worries, guilt, with flashes of the pleasure and relief and excitement which these things bring. Think of someone who is afraid to let go of a nightmare because, after all, that is the only world he knows. There you have a picture of yourself and of other people.
If you wish to attain to lasting happiness you must be ready to hate father, mother, even your own life and to take leave of all your possessions. How? Not by renouncing them or giving them up because what you give up violently you are forever bound to. But rather by seeing them for the nightmare they are; and then, whether you keep them or not, they will have lost their grip over you, their power to hurt you, and you will be out of your dream at last, out of your darkness, your fear, your unhappiness.
So spend some time seeing each of the things you cling to for what it really is, a nightmare that causes you excitement and pleasure on the one hand but also worry, insecurity, tension, anxiety, fear, unhappiness on the other.
Father and mother: nightmare. Wife and children, brothers and sisters: nightmare. All your possessions: nightmare. Your life as it is now: nightmare. Every single thing you cling to and have convinced yourself you cannot be happy without: nightmare. Then you will hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters and even your own life. And you will so easily take leave of all your possessions, that is, you will stop clinging and thus have destroyed their capacity to hurt you. Then at last you will experience that mysterious state that cannot be described or uttered—the state of abiding happiness and peace. And you will understand how true it is that everyone who stops clinging to brothers or sisters, father, mother or children, land or houses . . . is repaid a hundred times over and gains eternal life.
Product details
- Publisher : Image (June 1, 1995)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 196 pages
- ISBN-10 : 038524939X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0385249393
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 3.5 x 0.46 x 4.99 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #10,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #45 in Christian Meditation Worship & Devotion (Books)
- #63 in Inspiration & Spirituality
- #169 in Christian Inspirational
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
ANTHONY DE MELLO was a Jesuit priest born in Bombay, India in 1931. He is widely known for his ground-breaking and enduring work that integrates western and eastern spirituality. De Mello is the author of the bestselling masterpiece, Awareness, along with 11 other books that have been translated into 21 languages and have sold more than 2 million worldwide.
De Mello’s most recent book, Stop Fixing Yourself / Wake Up! All is Well centers on his core assertion that you and I are OK exactly as we are. We are not a problem to be solved, nor is there anything we need to fix in ourselves. It is enough for us to simply be watchful and awake. By simply being aware, all that seems false and neurotic in us will drop, and our eyes will open to the reality of joy surrounding us.
His body of work continues to have impact beyond his untimely death in 1987, influencing acclaimed spiritual teachers such as Rhonda Byrne, Eckhart Tolle, Neil Strauss, Adyashanti, Thomas Moore, and Paulo Coelho.
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I recite this meditation now in all my encounters no matter who it is. This perspective on life and love that Anthony de Mello encourages us to open our eyes to--where you truly see things and people as they are and just appreciate however long they're meant to be in your life--just FREES you from any form of possession, guilt, control, etc.
In 31 short, bite-sized chapters, Anthony de Mello takes readers on various paths to discover how to and what it means to truly love in the most pure, raw, unbridled way. "You see people and things not as they are, but as you are." I'm sure these types of easier-said-than-done-ideas are not unfamiliar to most people and that they have been echoed in some way, shape, or form to us in various other self-help/spiritual guide books. However, this is not just another self-help/spiritual guide book. Anthony de Mello presents these ideas in such a concise, honest, and straightforward manner that you can't help but allow yourself to be beaten the life into. No sugar-coating. No coddling. This little pocket book of love is that friend you need who tells you what you need to hear and tells it exactly as it is. De Mello presents his ideas and the reasoning to corroborate them in such a no-nonsense way that it makes it nearly impossible for his messages to not penetrate to some extent. This book is also written in a way where you could easily just open it up to any chapter, and take what you need from it. I breezed through it in a single sitting the first time I sat down with it, but now I understand that its chapters are meant to be nipped at, digested, regurgitated, digested again, and repeat...a million times over.
Initially I was rather skeptical to read this book since its genre was listed under "Christian literature" as I thought I wouldn't be able to comprehend or fully appreciate the references to Scripture or theocracy. Admittedly, I also had my own reservations that this book might be too preachy or come off as an attempt to indoctrinate readers. I was wrong. One barely even notices the few biblical references he includes, and they only serve to further echo the beautifully conveyed messages he communicates. In fact, most of the metaphors he uses to illustrate his points are references to nature. For example, he explains how we should be like a rose or a tree in the way we love because, like love, the fragrance of a rose and the shade of a tree simply ARE and exist regardless of whether someone will benefit from them or not.
This book came at such a pivotal moment in my life where I've only recently begun to truly understand myself, how I'm wired to think, and why I act the way I do. The process to understanding oneself is a life-long journey though, so I have no doubt that for years to come I'll be cracking the pages of this little book open while I'm waiting in line at a coffee shop, first thing on lazy mornings, before I settle in for bed, or just whenever I need a little refresher. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand love, life, or just humanness in general.
I always keep a copy of The Way To Love within easy reach and for almost two decades, it has been my "go to" anchor as I sailed the tumultuous seas of my own spiritual journey. If I had to pick out only one book from my massive accumulation of theological, spiritual, psychological, inspirational and historical texts, and it was to be the only thing I could take with me for the rest of my life, The Way To Love would be my only choice, hands down! For me, Fr. Anthony de Mello dwells personally between every set of covers.
I give copies to people who ask me questions I cannot answer, not because the answers are specifically spelled out within the text, but because the book will open and continue to open dialogue between the reader and God. Analogically, the Way To Love is a transcendental transporter that can and will take you into the presence of Jesus, the Christ, but only in proportion to your exercising your freedom to become a student. If you do, your resourceful teacher, friend and companion on these wonderful trips is Anthony de Mello, himself. Timelessly fresh and always exciting, no matter to what page you happen to open, "Uncle Tony" is constantly there, offering you the keys to the Kingdom of God (or Heaven, they both mean the same thing).
The neat part is that you can go there as often as you like, for the remainder your life here in time and space. Besides God's joyful gift of endless Self revelation, by continuously visiting with our amazing Creator, you just might get so wrapped up in your Divine relationship that you begin living a Christ like life. If that happens, you also might hardly notice the final transition from this mortal coil into God's "face to face" presence. Its something to think about. Thanks, Tony.
He was willing to say things that challenged our core beliefs about what makes one happy but in a gentle and compassionate way not one based on superiority. So it was a delight to find out that he was able to leave something that may help others in their own spiritual quest.
The book can be read in an hour or two and at the end of book you are inspired by his sincere attempt to help you to see how most of our suffering is caused by our own misguided thinking. I always feel more liberated after reading his book. Other authors that are useful to me are Eckhart Tolle, Ram Dass, and Ramana Maharshi.