Anthony de Mello
http://demello.org/

Until his sudden death on June 2, 1987, Fr. Tony de Mello was the director
of the Sadhana Institute of Pastoral Counseling near Poona, India. 
Author of five best selling books, renowned worldwide for his 
workshops, retreats, and prayer courses, he aimed simply to teach people 
HOW TO PRAY, how to WAKE UP AND LIVE.

Most people, he maintained, are asleep. They need to wake up, 
open up their eyes, see what is real, both inside and outside of themselves. 
The greatest human gift is to be aware, to be in touch with oneself,
one's body, mind, feelings, thoughts, sensations.

Here are some of his typical challenges: "Come home yourself! 
Come back to your senses! Do you hear that bird sing? 
How can you hear the song and not hear the singer? 
How can you see the wave and not see the ocean? 
How can you see the dance and not see the dancer?"

The thousands of people who attended Fr. de Mello's workshops, 
and the thousands more who did not attend but who wished they
could have, will surely consider it a great blessing that full-length 
conferences of this superbly gifted and eloquent speaker have been preserved.
It is just the way he was, uninhibited by a TV studio or time limits.
It is a priceless final gift he has left his friends.

In the spirit of Anthony de Mello, S.J. and Francis Stroud, S.J.,

Jonathan Galente and Desmond Towey, Trustees,

deMello Spirituality Center,

Fordham University Bronx, NY

together present spiritual themes and exercises

that can enrich and transform your life.

Anthony de Mello (4 September 1931, Bombay, British India - 2 June 1987, New York, United States) was a Jesuit priest and psychotherapist who became widely known for his books on spirituality. An internationally acclaimed spiritual guide, writer and public speaker, de Mello hosted many spiritual conferences. See below for the names of these programs which are available on audio CD and film. He traveled to many countries to study and later to teach, most notably Spain and the United States.

The few talks which he allowed to be filmed, such as "A Rediscovery of Life" and "A Way to God for Today," have inspired many viewers and audiences since being released; and have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of TV watchers throughout the United States, Canada, and Central America; in colleges, universities, Newman centers, and communities. De Mello established a prayer center in India. He died suddenly in 1987. His works are readily available and additional writings were published after his death.

[edit]Controversy

A review of de Mello's work by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prompted the group to release a lengthy comment expressing their theological concerns. While the group showed appreciation for many of de Mello's writings, some positions were found to be 'incompatible with the Catholic faith'.^[1] In an opinion dated June 24, 1998 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later becamePope Benedict XVI, wrote for the Congregation:

"But already in certain passages in [his] early works and to a greater degree in his later publications, one notices a progressive distancing from the essential contents of the Christian faith. ... With the present Notification, in order to protect the good of the Christian faithful, this Congregation declares that the above-mentioned positions are incompatible with the Catholic faith and can cause grave harm." ^[2]

Most notably however Pope John Paul II spoke favorably of De Mello stating " his theological compassion for humanity, passion for faith & belief in Christian values are a forward light for our collective future "

His quite controversial paradigm for Catholic dogma is mainly because many of his ideas were influenced by Thai Buddhist teacher and founder of monasteries Ajahn Chah - who, some^[who?] say, was a kind of teacher to him. Despite the church's condemnation, his works are popular, especially among those interested in Ignatian spirituality.^{[citation needed]}

Some editions of de Mello's books have since been supplemented with the insertion of a caution:

"The books of Father Anthony de Mello were written in a multi-religious context to help the followers of other religions, agnostics and atheists in their spiritual search, and they were not intended by the author as manuals of instruction of the Catholic faithful in Christian doctrine or dogma." ^[3]

[edit]Bibliography

Not all the works of Father de Mello were submitted for publication by the author himself; some were published posthumously as collections, or based upon notes or recordings of his conferences.^[4]Below are the most recent list of available publications:

• Wake Up! Spirituality for Today, 90 minutes of talks given before a live audience.
• The Song of the Bird, 1984. ISBN 978-0385-19615-4
• Sadhana: A Way to God, 1984. ISBN 978-0385-19614-7
• Wellsprings, 1986. ISBN 978-0-385-19617-8
• One Minute Wisdom, Image, 1988. ISBN 978-0-385-24290-5
• Awareness, Image,1990. ISBN 978-0385-24937-9
• Taking Flight, 1990. ISBN 978-0-385-413mjml
• The Way to Love, 1992. ISBN 978-0385-24939-3
• The Heart Of The Enlightened, Image, 1994. ISBN 978-0-517-11474-2
• Awakening, Image, 2003. ISBN 978-0385-50995-4
• Contact with God, Image, 2003. ISBN 978-0385-50994-7
• One Minute Nonsense
• The Prayer of the Frog Vol. 1 & Vol. 2. In the English printing, these are titled "Taking Flight" and "The Heart of the Englightened."
• Praying Naked: The Spirituality of Anthony de Mello (by J. Francis Stroud, S.J.), Image