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DECEPTION

"How shall we distinguish the true mystic from the false?"
asked the disciples who had an inordinate interest in the occult.

"How do you distinguish the true sleeper from the one who is feigning sleep?" asked the Master.

"There's no way. Only the sleeper knows when he is feigning," said the disciples.

The Master smiled.

Later he said,
"The feigning sleeper can delude others - he cannot delude himself.
The false mystic, unfortunately, can delude both others and himself."

Anthony de Mello, SJ


MORSEL:  
Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced
- even a proverb is no proverb to you till your life has illustrated it.  
John Keats (1795-1821)

RECKLESSNESS

The Master always insisted that we must learn by ourselves -
teach ourselves - rather than depend on other people's authority.
This had its limits, of course,
as when a bright young fellow was convinced he ought to try drugs as a means to mysticism -
- and "take the risk, for one can only learn by trial and error."

That moved the Master to tell the old story of the nail and the screw:

"Here is one way to find out whether what you need in a plank is a nail or a screw:
Drive the nail in. If it splits the plank, you know you needed the screw."

Anthony de Mello, SJ


MORSEL:  
Mistakes live in the neighborhood of truth and therefore delude us.  
Rabindranath Tagore, Indian Poet (1861-1941)

DESTRUCTION

For all his holiness, the Master seemed vaguely opposed to religion.
This never ceased to puzzle the disciples who, unlike the Master, equated religion with spirituality.

"Religion as practiced today deals in punishments and rewards.
In other words, it breeds fear and greed - the two things most destructive of spirituality."

Later he added ruefully, "It is like tackling a flood with water; or a burning barn with fire."

Anthony de Mello, SJ


MORSEL:  
If people are good only because they fear punishment,
and hope for reward,
then we are a sorry lot indeed.  
Albert Einstein

true, true

Slavni govorec je enega od svojih seminarjev pričel tako, da je v roki držal bankovec za 20 dolarjev.
V prostoru, kjer je bilo prisotnih 200 poslušalcev, je vprašal: "Kdo si želi ta 20 dolarski bankovec?"
Roke so se začele dvigovati.

Dejal je:"Dal vam bom ta bankovec, ampak najprej mi dovolite, da naredim tole.
Potem je zmečkal bankovec in ga ponovno dvignil v zrak.
Vprašal je:"Kdo si ga še vedno želi?" Roke so bile še vedno dvignjene.
"Dobro," je odgovoril:"Kaj pa če naredim tole?" Bankovec je vrgel na tla in začel po njem stopati.
Potem ga je pobral, zmečkanega in umazanega.
"Kdo si ga želi sedaj?" Roke so bile še vedno v zraku.

"Prijatelji moji, danes smo se naučili zelo dragocene lekcije," je dejal:
"Ne glede na to, kaj sem napravil z denarjem, še vedno si ga želite,
ker bankovec ni izgubil na svoji vrednosti. Še vedno je vreden 20 dolarjev."

"V življenju mnogokrat pademo, smo zmečkani, pohabljeni, na tleh, v umazaniji, vse to z odločitvami, ki jih sprejemamo, in okoliščinami, ki nam prihajajo na pot. Takrat mislimo, da smo nevredni ljubezni, nevredni topline, nevredni samih sebe. Ampak ne glede na to, kaj se je zgodilo ali kaj se bo zgodilo z vami, nikoli ne boste izgubili svoje resnične vrednosti. Umazani ali čisti, zmečkani ali povsem urejeni, še vedno ste neprecenljivi... zlasti za tiste ljudi, ki vas imajo radi. Veličina našega življenja ne prihaja od tega, kar naredimo ali koga poznamo, temveč od tega, KDO SMO MI."

There is a story of a young scholar from a privileged family
who spends most of his time reading and studying the great teachings.

One day, while traveling, he comes to a wide river and finds a boatman to take him across.

During the crossing, to pass the time, the scholar describes his lifetime of studies.
As he does, the boatman listens attentively.

Then, after a time, he says to the young man,
"You have learned much, sir-but have you learned how to swim?"

"Why, no," he replies. "I have not."

"Then I'm afraid your knowledge is of little use," says the boatman, "for this boat is sinking."