Anthony De Mello One Minute Wisdom

224 Pages·1986·4.019 MB·English

by  Anthony De Mello

ONE MINUTE WISDOM

ONE MINUTE
WISDOM
ANTHONY DE MELLO, S.J.
Doubleday & Company, Inc.
Garden City, New York 1986
Originally published in India
by Gujarat Sahitya Prakash
This edition published by special arrangement
with the Center for Spiritual Exchange
Imprimatur: -j- C. Gomes, S.J.
Bishop of Ahmedabad
May 8, 1985
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
De Mello, Anthony, 1931-
One minute wisdom.
Reprint. Originally published: Gujarat, India:
Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, © 1985.
1. Spiritual life—Catholic authors. I. Title.
BX2350.2.D384 1986 242
ISBN 0-385-23585-2
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 85-29003
Copyright © 1985 by Anthony de Mello, S.J.
All Rights Reserved
First Edition Printed in the United States of America
“Is there such a thing as One Minute Wisdom?”
“There certainly is,” said the Master.
“But surely one minute is too brief?”
“It is fifty-nine seconds too long.”
To his puzzled disciples the Master later
said, “How much time does it take to catch
sight of the moon?”
“Then why all these years of spiritual endeavor?”
“Opening one’s eyes may take a lifetime.
Seeing is done in a flash.”
1
The Master in these tales is not a single person. He is a
Hindu Guru, a Zen Roshi, a Taoist Sage, a Jewish Rabbi,
a Christian Monk, a Sufi Mystic. He is Lao-tzu and Soc¬
rates. Buddha and Jesus, Zarathustra and Mohammed.
His teaching is found in the seventh century B.C. and
the twentieth century A.D. His wisdom belongs to East
and West alike. Do his historical antecedents really mat¬
ter? History, after all, is the record of appearances, not
Reality; of doctrines, not of Silence.
It will only take a minute to read each of the anecdotes
that follow. You will probably find the Master’s language
baffling, exasperating, even downright meaningless.
This, alas, is not an easy book! It was written not to in¬
struct but to Awaken. Concealed within its pages (not in
the printed words, not even in the tales, but in its spirit,
its mood, its atmosphere) is a Wisdom which cannot be
conveyed in human speech. As you read the printed
2