Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Friday, November 7, 2014
Swansong- Another review.
I was more than delighted to receive Swansong. Quite evidently, Bill transcribed the seminar on which the book is based with the love and attention that only a brother can lavish.
Fr Tony’s last seminar may have been his swan song but what he says is a mighty clarion call to us all to open our eyes and wake up. As a true master, Fr Anthony De Mello shows us “where to look” but never tells us “what to see”.
An oriental sage once said : “If a blind man walks a thousand miles to ask of another man where light is, he will tell him: ‘If you had eyes, light was there also where you came from. Without eyes, light will not be, no matter where you go’. Light is wherever eyes are - else there is nothing but darkness”.
But it is inherent in the human conditon, in this matrix we live in, that most of us are blind. We need a master to point us in the right direction. We then choose whether to follow the path to peace that passes all understanding or continue to exist within the confines of our conditioning.
As a human (mechanical) being I’d say that Anthony De Mello was taken away from us far too soon but deep in my heart I know that he sang all of his song and he sang it beautifully. Could he have given us further insights, untrammelled by rigid, doctrinal, lifeless formalisms had he lived longer? Perhaps. But what does it matter, his joyful voice still rings clear. Swansong exudes his humour and his love for humanity – the beauty of his being is still with us.
Barry Long said, “The living master never returns. He teaches the truth, he is in his own body, his own time. When that is finished, all that he had to say and do is said and done. If it weren't, he would not die. The body is the precise time allotted. There can be no return of J. Krishnamurti, Meher Baba, Ramana Maharshi or any living master of his time. The master never needs more time.”
Fr Tony’s teachings live on in his stories, books and the few, alas, videos we have of him dancing his dance. He was a floodlight of wisdom and divine inspiration for this world. He touched the hardest hearts, the confused, the dogmatic, the seeker. He continues to do so.
So I can only offer a big THANK YOU to his dear brother Bill (and his generous correspondents) for gifting us, in Swansong , with the authentic words of a rare mystic.
Franco.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Swansong, Anthony deMello’s
Last Seminar has been available through Tony's website www.tonydemello.com for some months. I
have yet to receive a negative review of this seminar.
This review is no
exception; but it is in many ways special. Because the man who wrote it was a novice in the Jesuit seminary when
Tony was Rector of the house (see Anthony deMello SJ, The Happy Wanderer)
He gives me great credit for transcribing this last seminar but I humbly
claim none. Unless pre-arranged and agreed to by Tony, his seminars were never
taped or filmed. Therefore his last seminar, delivered in May 1987, in Pune,
India, would be but a blissful memory for those who attended it, never to be
accessed by the wider community. I attribute all credit to the sister (who still wishes to remain anonymous)
and Fr. Joaquim Tellis, who shared their notes on this seminar which they
attended, with me.
The review:
Bill,
Towards the end of last month I completed 3/4
century, aided by not regretting the past and not being bothered about
the future.
And
you know what?! On my birthday, I gave out presents: A copy each,
in fancy wrapping, of SWANSONG. with a sticker, signed by me, on the first
page, saying: " This is to share with you, thoughts expressed by my guru, that keep
me enlightened, and to admit I am able to keep sane because of
the questionable company I keep. Like in the case of Jesus—see Mk
2:15f and also Lk 7:33."
You certainly did a great job transcribing the seminar and I will not be
the only one to say that. Tony followers all over will be highly
indebted, for they will have Tony's final thoughts and feelings about what
really matters in life. You must have taken great pains over the
transcriptions and you certainly edited them expertly for when I read SWANSONG
I felt as if I was hearing Tony himself, just as I remember him. The flow
of words, the aptness of the illustrations and jokes, the depth of mystical
understanding, the forthrightness of speech, and
the simplicity and clarity of everything---all that is associated
with Tony---came out strongly through what you gifted all of us.
You have our undying gratitude.
A million, trillion thanks for
SWANSONG!
Albert
SJ
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
I asked Tony
whether it was absolutely necessary that I enter a church to communicate with
God. I asked him why it was necessary to spend so much money on structures when
there were millions around the world who had no food or shelter.
His answer:
Once upon a
time there was a forest where the birds sang by day and the insects by night.
Trees flourished, flowers bloomed and all manner of creatures roamed about in
freedom.
And all who
entered there were led to Solitude which is the home of God who dwells in
Nature’s silence and Nature’s beauty.
But then the
Age of Unconsciousness arrived when it became possible for people to construct
buildings a thousand feet high and to destroy rivers and forests and mountains
in a month. So houses of worship were built from the wood of the forest trees
and from the stone under the forest soil. Pinnacle, spire and minaret pointed
towards the sky; the air was filled with the sound of bells, with prayer and
chant and exhortation.
And God was
suddenly without a home.
God hides things by putting them before our eyes!
Anthony deMello-Prayer of
the Frog Volume I.
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