I first came across the writings of Fr. Anthony de Mello (also known as Tony de Mello) when my immediate superior, Mr. Rodney Pereira, in an organization I was employed with way back in 2005, introduced me to one of his books, viz., The Prayer of the Frog Vol. 1.
Being fond of epigrammatic short stories which makes one introspect, ruminate, and ponder, especially those with intrinsic messages to the subconscious mind, I took an immediate liking to it. (The Akhyayikas series which I have authored / am authoring are essentially short stories).
I never had the privilege of meeting him, although many years later, I met one of his close friends and associates, Fr. Richard McHugh under whose watchful presence, I studied Advanced NLP.
Fr. Anthony de Mello was an integral part of both Fr. Richard (Dick) McHugh’s life and Sadhana Center. He took a course by Tony at the Sadhana Institute for Pastoral Counselling. “Tony was a good man, a noble friend and my boss,” he has always told us.
The other phrase that Fr. Richard McHugh always expressed was, “The unconscious is always positive. Allow the unconscious to surface.” He was instrumental in cementing my existing beliefs of being positive, principled, and moral; in fact, in a world inundated with negativity and sensationalism, my books continue to be focused on inspiration, motivation and emancipation.
It was a sheer coincidence that I came across the text of some his talks which have never been covered by published books, which are now in the public domain. This work has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.
Like his books, his talks were never meant to instruct, but to awaken. My fervent prayer is, that you would be fortunate enough to chance upon the philosophy that lurks within this book, and it would transform you, more than you expect, unwittingly and inevitably.
I have refrained from making alterations to the original text; however, I have taken the liberty to insert quotes from the Master, insert graphic separators, re-organize the paragraphs, rectify a few (not all) grammatical errors, italicized instead of capitalizing for emphasis, adjust the spacing, eliminate an excess of word contractions, formatted the book, etc. to facilitate reading. There are other rectifications that I could have done with respect to grammar and modern-day presentation but have abstained from doing so. Thus, residual errors are entirely my responsibility. And if I have missed out on that which I said I have done and could have done, that is my responsibility too!
Tony’s inclusive approach, which integrates both eastern and western theologies, makes for a practical spirituality that enlightens the world to a simple, yet groundbreaking concept: to attain happiness, you need only wake up to the fact that you already have everything you need to be happy.
Your culture has hypnotized you like a stage magician hypnotizes a person to see what is not there, and not see what is there. But suppose there was a way of waking up from your nightmare so that all that is false and neurotic within you would drop, and your eyes would open to the reality of joy surrounding you? Would you want that?
This book is an anthology of some of his talks not covered by the published books. You will find dozens of books authored by Anthony de Mello through various sources, but not this one. In his inimitable style, these talks, interspersed with stories and anecdotes as he is wont to do, summarize his philosophy on varied subjects with one objective – to WAKE YOU UP!
Every page contains a nugget of wisdom that can be found and applied to any situation. It is that potent. This should be the one book you finish reading this year, if any. A spiritual advisor who can help you comprehend the bigger picture, help you make decisions, and help you put life and yourself in perspective. Let this book persuade you to wake up and take stock of who you are and where you fit in the world.
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