It’s a pretty important lesson—probably one we need to master at some time or another, for the sake of sanity—so I suppose it bears repeating. Once you get convinced of that—and it gets into our subconscious, it gets stamped into the roots of our being—you are finished.

A spiritual guide that will help you put life and yourself in perspective, guide you in any decision you face, and helps to understand the world around you. De Mello chooses the timeless metaphors, leaving the book to read like a New Testament set of readings and accompanying homily.

He is so full of joy and brings this important practice of awareness and its power to life with humor and clarity simultaneously . It woke me up from ‘existing’ as a human to ‘living’ a life that I am excited, proud, and most of all, grateful to have. There’s the story of the disciple who went to the master and said, “Could you give me a word of wisdom?

That is what I meant earlier when I said to you, ‘If you’re suffering, you’re asleep’… suffering is a sign that you’re out of touch with the truth. I already knew that when you have a negative issue the road to take is in flipping the questions towards myself. To access your ebook(s) after purchasing, you can download the free Glose app or read instantly on your browser by logging into Glose.I now realize that admitting you’re wrong is a sign of strength and helps relieve all the stress and tension of trying to always be ‘right. Made asses of themselves because they drained all their energy getting something that was worthless. When you go through life with preferences but don’t let your happiness depend on any one of them, then you’re awake. You have somehow said to yourself, ‘The well-being of ‘I,’ almost the existence of ‘I,’ is tied up with this desire. These things will destroy the human race: politics without principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning without silence, religion without fearlessness, and worship without awareness.

The reason why it took a while for me to finish this book is that it has so many passages that I would prefer to give them time to sink in before moving forward. One of the men stood up and protested; he said, “I don’t agree that words have all that much effect on us. de Mello combines Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and New Age worldviews mixed with a dose of radical individualism to create a spirituality devoid of any significant beliefs except for the fact that we don't need other people if we are aware of ourselves.The fact is that no matter what labels you think of (except perhaps human being) you should apply them to ‘me. Spirituality means waking up" is the way he begins Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality.

After a while you don’t have to make any effort, because, as illusions begin to crumble, you begin to know things that cannot be described. Put this program in you a thousand times: a) identify the negative feelings in you; b) understand that they are in you, not in the world, not in an external reality; c) do not see them as an essential part of “I”; these things come and go; d) understand that when you change, everything changes.Ja należę do tej nieoświeconej, nieuświadomionej i wg autora raczej nie dość inteligentnej (żeby nie powiedzieć, że tępej) części społeczeństwa. Cierpienie dane jest co po to, abyś otworzył oczy na prawdę, żebyś mógł zrozumieć, że gdzieś jest jakiś fałsz […]”.