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One of the books that really fed my longing for more awareness and conscious action in my own life is Anthony de Mello's "Awareness." Please put this book on your 'read before I die' list. De Mello was a Jesuit priest, a delightful, spiritual - and very frank - man who cared about all of us knowing that it was possible to live life awake. He begins the book, which is a transcript of his lectures "Wake Up To Life" at Fordham University by saying we "are born asleep, we marry in our sleep and we die asleep." Not a new idea. One that many other teachers would agree with, from Don Miguel Ruiz to Jesus. The really horrifying this about this idea for me is that we can be asleep, but not even know it. Like in the film, The Matrix.
Watched The Matrix lately? It's interesting that first line.
Wake up, Neo...
Awareness for me is a commitment. I wanted to live 'awake' (I use that carefully, as I try to be mindful of setting up some states as 'good' and others as 'bad') for some practical reasons: so I could stop repeating some old mistakes, not be so motivated by fear and become more open to getting better answers for myself.
It has proved to be a very fruitful place for me to explore.
To hear my show on Awareness from December 23rd
It includes Anthony de Mello's 4 ways of taking action to come into greater awareness that you can try out for yourself