Eternal Life and Enlightenment...

"How shall I attain Eternal Life?"

"Eternal Life is now. Come into the present."

"But I am in the present now, am I not?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you haven't dropped your past."

"Why should I drop my past? Not all of it is bad."

"The past is to be dropped not because it is bad
but because it is dead."

~ Anthony de Mello, SJ

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"Where shall I look for Enlightenment?"

" Here."

" When will it happen?"

"It is happening right now."

"Then why don't I experience it?"

"Because you do not look."

"What should I look for?"

"Nothing, just look."

"At what?"

"Anything your eyes alight upon."

"Must I look in a special kind of way?"

"No. The ordinary way will do."

"But don't I always look the ordinary way?"

" No."

"Why ever not?"

"Because to look you must be here. You're mostly somewhere else."

Anthony de Mello, S.J.

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363

"How long does the present last? A minute? A second?"

"Much less and much more," said the Master. "Less, because
the moment you focus on it, it's gone.

"More, because if you ever get into it, you will stumble upon
the timeless and will know what eternity is."

~ Anthony de Mello, S.J.
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You may be capable of great things,

But life consists of small things.


Big things seldom come along. One should know the small as
well as the big. We may all yearn to make lasting achievements
and to be heroes, but life seldom affords us the opportunities to
do so. Most of our days consist of small things the uneventful
meditations, the ordinary cooking of meals, the banal trips to
work, the quiet scratching in the garden and it is from these small
things that the larger events of life are composed.

We rarely have the occasion to make grand gestures. The champion gymnast's greatest moment is but an hour out of an entire
lifetime. The works of great artists are viewed for very short times.
The master musician's best composition is but one work in a sea
of musical tones. If we want to be successful, it is the small things
that we should pay attention to.

We must not fall into the trap of waiting so long for the big things
that we let numerous small chances slip right by us. People who
do this are always waiting for life to be perfect. They complain that
fate is against them, that the world does not recognize their greatness. If they would lower their sights, they would see all the beautiful opportunities swirling at their feet. if they would humble themselves enough to bend down, they could scoop untold treasures up into their hands.

~ Deng Ming-Dao