Various excerpts from Awareness by Anthony De Mello.
“Negative feelings are in you, not in reality. So stop trying to change reality. That’s crazy! Stop trying to change the other person. We spend all our time and energy trying to change external circumstances, trying to change our spouses, our bosses, our friends, our enemies, and everybody else. We don’t have to change anything. Negative feelings are in you. No person on earth has the power to make you unhappy. There is no event on earth that has the power to disturb or hurt you. No event, condition, situation or person. Nobody told you this; they told you the opposite. That’s why you’re in the mess that you’re in right now. That’s why you’re asleep. They never told you this. But it’s self evident.”
Imagine a patient who goes to the doctor and tells him what he is suffering from. The doctor says, “Very well, I’ve understood your symptoms. Do you know what I will do? I will prescribe medicine for your neighbor!”
The patient replies, “Thank you very much doctor, that makes me feel better.”
The person who is asleep always thinks he’ll feel better if someone else changes. You’re thinking
‘How wonderful life would be if my neighbor changed, my wife changed, my boss changed.’
We always want someone else to change so that we will feel good. But has it ever struck you that even if your wife changes or your husband changes, what does that do to you? You’re just as vulnerable as before.
You are the one who needs to change, who needs to take medicine. You keep insisting, “I feel good because the world is right.” Wrong! The world is right because I feel good. That’s what all the mystics are saying.”
Mmm, Peaches 