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Anthony de Mello

Anthony de Mello Quotes

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Famous Anthony de Mello Quotes

“A writer arrived at the monastery to write a book about the Master. "People say you are a genius . Are you?" he asked. "You might say so." said the Master, none too modestly. "And what makes one a genius?" "The ability to recognize." "Recognize what?" "The butterfly in a caterpillar: the eagle in an egg; the saint in a selfish human being.”

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Book:One Minute Wisdom
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“Tell me," said the atheist , "Is there a God really?" Said the master, "If you want me to be perfectly honest with you, I will not answer." Later the disciples demanded to know why he had not answered. "Because the question is unanswerable," said the Master. "So you are an atheist?" "Certainly not. The atheist makes the mistake of denying that of which nothing may be said... and the theist makes the mistake of affirming it.”

IfsKnowsWantMaySaidAnswersMistakeHonestMastersAtheistWant MeDiscipleYou Want MeAffirmingTheistIf You Want Me
Author:Anthony de Mello
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“Anytime you have a negative feeling toward anyone, you're living in an illusion. There's something seriously wrong with you. You're not seeing reality. Something inside of you has to change. But what do we generally do when we have a negative feeling? "He is to blame, she is to blame. She's got to change." No! The world's all right. The one who has to change is you.”

WorldFeelingsRealitySeeingIllusionNegativeBlameNegative Feelings
Book:Awareness: Conversations with the Masters
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“Take away human beings from this planet and life would go on, nature would go on in all its loveliness and violence. Where would the problem be? No problem. You created the problem. You are the problem. You identified with "me" and that is the problem. The feeling is in you, not in reality.”

HumansFeelingsProblemRealityHuman BeingsViolencePlanetsGoes OnNo ProblemLoveliness
Book:Awareness: Conversations with the Masters
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“Negative feelings are in you, not in reality. Stop trying to change reality. That's crazy! 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.”

TryingPersonsFeelingsRealityEnergyEnemyCrazyCircumstancesNegativeOur TimeBossSpouseStop TryingTime And EnergyTrying To ChangeNegative Feelings
Book:Awareness: Conversations with the Masters
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“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. No event, condition, situation, or person. Nobody told you this; they told you the opposite. That's why you're in the mess you're in right now. That is why you're asleep. They never told you this. But it's self-evident.”

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Book:Awareness: Conversations with the Masters
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“There is no explanation you can give that will explain away all the sufferings and evil and torture and destruction and hunger in the world! You'll never explain it. Because life is a mystery, which means your thinking mind cannot make sense of it. For that you've got to wake up and then you'll suddenly realize that reality is not the problem, you are the problem.”

ThinkingWorldGivingMindMeanProblemRealityLife IsSufferingEvilRealizingMysteryDestructionWake UpHungerMake SenseExplanationTortureThinking Mind
Author:Anthony de Mello
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“If you search within your heart, you will find something there that will make it possible for you to understand: a spark of disenchantment and discontent, which if fanned into flame will become a raging forest fire that will burn up the whole of the illusory world you are living in, thereby unveiling to your wondering eyes the kingdom that you have always lived in unsuspectingly.”

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Book:The Way to Love: Meditations for Life
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“A religious belief is not a statement about Reality, but a hint, a clue about something that is a mystery, beyond the grasp of human thought. In short, a religious belief is only a finger pointing to the moon. Some religious people never get beyond the study of the finger. Others are engaged in sucking it. Others yet use the finger to gouge their eyes out. These are the bigots whom religion has made blind. Rare indeed is the religionist who is sufficiently detached from the finger to see what it is indicating - these are those who, having gone beyond belief, are taken for blasphemers.”

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Author:Anthony de Mello
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