SPORASUB Mystic Mask

I first read this book over 24 years ago. It was my introduction to Anthony De Mello. Finishing it I put it on my top five all time favorite books. It has stayed there. I gave my first hardback copy away. When the pocket edition came out I bought it, I think that copy was given away also. The next copy I bought, I underlined in green as I read. I've kept up with that copy. I haven't read it in full again in some years, but I browse the green occasionally.OK, so what comes to mind today? De Mello understands human behavior, our psychology, our emotions. He uses a short Bible verse for each chapter, and then unfolds the verse and basically uses it as a jumping off place. My copy is around close by, but I can't put my fingers on it right now, but I might edit tomorrow and throw in some favorite quotes.I subsequently read Awareness by De Mello, also most excellent. I have just about all his books, but my third favorite is called Walking On Water. Some years ago I was on retreat in the NC mountains for a week at a couples home, they offered a basement apartment for a very modest price for retreat. In their basement library they had a series of cassette tapes of a retreat that De Mello gave. This is the only retreat he allowed to be recorded. It was several days if not a week. I listened to about 4 tapes, all they had, maybe about a total of 8 hours. Very good. I looked for it later to be able to listen to all the tapes. It is out there but not readily accessible, still have not purchased....OK...so why write this review today? I met a very nice lady today, in a Barnes & Noble. She was browsing in ~my~ section. I could share some turnings of the cogwheels in my mind, but I'll pass on that. As she was browsing, I thought of Tony De Mello, and The Way To Love. I looked for it, but they didn't have it, but they had Awareness. So I pulled it off the shelf and went back to ~my section~. ...I showed it to the very nice lady, with a little explanation. We talked briefly. She said she's from Denmark, here visiting her daughter (the USA...NC). I went from feeling most excellent...to sadly exasperated. But we talked a little more, and, I had told her about The Way To Love, but I wrote down the title and De Mello on a piece of a sheet of my pocket journal, and gave to her. We talked a little more...I was trying to figure out the situation, my ~head space~, plus some things she said. I was about to give her my e-mail address, about meaning one second away, and things got sidetracked. She told a friend about the book. She told me I think I will get this. And then it was over and she thanked me, and she shook my hand. ....So this is really all about, maybe she will go to Amazon to check out this book further. ...So I really wish I had given you my e-mail address, I didn't even ask your name. But I write, writing comes easier than speaking. But I actually have an extra copy of The Way To Love. It's still in the Amazon package, unopened. I'm more stardust pilgrim than the name I would have said, if we had exchanged names. So, Denmark, I'm going back to B & N tomorrow, well, today, it's already tomorrow. Wednesday, about 1:00PM...until...as sometimes, what's ~not~ said, is more important than what ~is~ said... But I just missed you, all day, after knowing you only about five minutes...d

"I leave you free to be yourself, to think your thoughts, to indulge your taste, follow your inclinations, behave in any way you decide is to your liking." -Anthony de Mello p. 35 I recite this meditation now in all my encounters no matter who it is. This perspective on life and love that Anthony de Mello encourages us to open our eyes to--where you truly see things and people as they are and just appreciate however long they're meant to be in your life--just FREES you from any form of possession, guilt, control, etc. In 31 short, bite-sized chapters, Anthony de Mello takes readers on various paths to discover how to and what it means to truly love in the most pure, raw, unbridled way. "You see people and things not as they are, but as you are." I'm sure these types of easier-said-than-done-ideas are not unfamiliar to most people and that they have been echoed in some way, shape, or form to us in various other self-help/spiritual guide books. However, this is not just another self-help/spiritual guide book. Anthony de Mello presents these ideas in such a concise, honest, and straightforward manner that you can't help but allow yourself to be beaten the life into. No sugar-coating. No coddling. This little pocket book of love is that friend you need who tells you what you need to hear and tells it exactly as it is. De Mello presents his ideas and the reasoning to corroborate them in such a no-nonsense way that it makes it nearly impossible for his messages to not penetrate to some extent. This book is also written in a way where you could easily just open it up to any chapter, and take what you need from it. I breezed through it in a single sitting the first time I sat down with it, but now I understand that its chapters are meant to be nipped at, digested, regurgitated, digested again, and repeat...a million times over.Initially I was rather skeptical to read this book since its genre was listed under "Christian literature" as I thought I wouldn't be able to comprehend or fully appreciate the references to Scripture or theocracy. Admittedly, I also had my own reservations that this book might be too preachy or come off as an attempt to indoctrinate readers. I was wrong. One barely even notices the few biblical references he includes, and they only serve to further echo the beautifully conveyed messages he communicates. In fact, most of the metaphors he uses to illustrate his points are references to nature. For example, he explains how we should be like a rose or a tree in the way we love because, like love, the fragrance of a rose and the shade of a tree simply ARE and exist regardless of whether someone will benefit from them or not.This book came at such a pivotal moment in my life where I've only recently begun to truly understand myself, how I'm wired to think, and why I act the way I do. The process to understanding oneself is a life-long journey though, so I have no doubt that for years to come I'll be cracking the pages of this little book open while I'm waiting in line at a coffee shop, first thing on lazy mornings, before I settle in for bed, or just whenever I need a little refresher. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand love, life, or just humanness in general.

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