The result, in this book, is a patchwork quilt of loosely stitched anecdotes, parables, and exhortations.

Because if you do, the next thing you will be doing, whether you’re aware of it or not, is demanding that other people contribute to your happiness.One story mentioned by De Mello is about this alcoholic who knew all the damage alcohol is doing to him and to his family.

I probably don’t have to explain to you that when you were a child you were more curious about the world that you are as an adult. There’s only one reason why you’re not experiencing bliss at this present moment, and it’s because you’re thinking or focusing on what you don’t have. As a matter of fact, you will have to let them take care of themselves because you’ll be too preoccupied with getting in touch with reality. I understand this theory in regards to detaching oneself from material objects better than I do the detachment from people.Getting over my perfectionistic tendencies took a lot of work but boy has it been so freeing, I tell you. All I can say to those who might read this is that you are so lucky this book has shown up on your path. If you want to finish your day with a smile on your face, no matter the day,listen at the end of your day a chapter from Awareness . These constructs include the ideas that we must succeed financially, that we must find another person to give us love, that illness and death are personal affronts, that we must adhere to this or that ideal, that our lives must go a certain way.

In this almost meditative state he finds that once he detaches from his worries and misery, and truly understands life being that distant from Earth, he becomes aware. There was a time in my life where I wanted to wake each day with a favorite quote – I chose 52 different quotes (one for each randomly drawn card from a deck) from 5-6 books, with about 10 of the quotes from this one. When I speak to Hindus, I tell them, ‘Your priests are not going to be happy to hear this’ (notice how prudent I am this morning), ‘but God would be much happier, according to Jesus Christ, if you were transformed than if you worshipped. His books include Sadhana, Song of the Bird, Wellsprings, One Minute Wisdom, Taking Flight, and The Heart of the Enlightened. My experience is that it’s precisely the ones who don’t know what to do with this life who are all hot and bothered about what they are going to do with another life.You feel pretty strongly about certain things, and you think it is you who are feeling strongly about them, but are you really? If the eye is unobstructed, it results in sight; if the ear is unobstructed, the result is hearing; if the nose is unobstructed, the result is a sense of smell; if the mouth is unobstructed, the result is a sense of taste; if the mind is unobstructed, the result is wisdom. Included within: insights from Christian mystics, Islamic sayings, Buddhist parables, and much more. Ja należę do tej nieoświeconej, nieuświadomionej i wg autora raczej nie dość inteligentnej (żeby nie powiedzieć, że tępej) części społeczeństwa. You mean you understood astronomy and black holes and quasars and you picked up computer science, and you don’t know who you are?

De Mello notes that the few people who really do start to question their understanding of the world do so only after immense suffering. This is a helpful inversion of the typical idea that you shouldn’t judge things you don’t understand. This powerfully describes the problem of many of the world's religions, where people are taught to direct their worship outward through ritual, rather than inward toward awareness, growth, and change.My biggest concern with this book is that he wants us to "give up" attachments like our family for example.