On Waking Up

From Anthony deMello:

Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, and they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence.

All mystics, Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, they are all unanimous, no matter what their theology, on one thing, and that is that “all is well.” All is well--everything is in a mess--and all is well. Strange paradox. But tragically, most people never get to see that. Because they are asleep….

Most people tell you that they want to get out of kindergarten, but don’t believe them. All that they want for you to do is to mend their broken toys. Give me back my wife. Give me back my job. Give me back my money. Give me back my reputation, my success. This is what they want—they want their toys repaired.

Even the best psychologists will tell you that. They will tell you that people really do not want to be cured. What they want is relief. A cure is painful. Waking up is unpleasant, you know. It is nice and comfortable in bed. And as long as you are asleep, it is irritating to be woken up.

It is said that the wise guru will not attempt to wake people up. I hope that I will make no attempt to wake you up if you are asleep. None of my business. My business is to do my thing. To dance my dance. If you profit from it, fine. If you don’t, too bad. As the Arabs say, “the nature of the rain is the same, but it grows thorns in the marshes, and flowers in the garden.”