On Attachment and Programming: Anthony De Mello
"Has it ever struck you that you have been programmed to be unhappy and so no matter what you do to become happy, you are bound to fail?" - harsh truth, but there is a solution:
If you’re familiar with Anthony De Mello’s work, you already know what’s coming. For those who are not, well, it’s an honor to pass these on.
An attachment isn’t a fact. It is a belief, a fantasy in your head, acquired through programming. If that fantasy did not exist inside your head, you would not be attached.
You would love persons and things and you would enjoy them thoroughly but, lacking the belief, you would enjoy them on a non-attachment basis. As a matter of fact, is there any other way to really enjoy something?
Heads up, this series is for patrons only, as part of the weekly spiritual/esoteric deep dives.
As Anthony De Mello takes all things we hold as “holy grails” and exposes them as nightmares, one could say he pulls zero punches. Reading his meditations are like getting a metaphysical body slam.
Anthony De Mello was a Jesuit Priest, and the director of the Sadhana Institute of Pastoral Counseling in Poona, India. He authored several books. The passage we are focusing on today is from The Way To Love, his final publishing before he passed away.
The wool will be ripped from your eyes, each and every one of us exposed in our faulty programming that we have adopted as identity and belief.
So, in the name of truth and liberation for all:
Let us begin. 😎
He Went Away Sad
And the young man went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. - Mark 10:22
“Has it ever struck you that you have been programmed to be unhappy and so no matter what you do to become happy, you are bound to fail? It is as if you fed mathematical equations into a computer and then failed each time you pushed it to turn out lines from Shakespeare.
If you wish to be happy, the first thing you need is not effort or even goodwill or good desires, but a clear understanding of how exactly you have been programmed.
This is what happened: First your society and your culture taught you to believe:
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