Anthony deMello, The Happy Wanderer
Author: Bill deMello
Publisher: Orbis
Now available on Amazon: US UK where you can ‘look inside’, see the chapter titles and read the preface, introduction etc. and read some thoughtful and informative customer reviews
This is the biography of Anthony (Tony) deMello SJ, the Christian guru with Eastern leanings who taught people the path to enlightenment. His books and audio-video recordings continue to inspire his followers. However, there was no comprehensive biography of the man who passed away in New York 25 years ago.
The gap has now been filled by his brother, Bill deMello, who has collected mountains of information, memories, opinions and facts and arranged them into a sensible and sensitive narrative of the life and times of a man who was brilliant, unassuming and a firm taskmaster. It presents little-known details about Tony’s childhood and his spiritual evolution.
A Personal Perspective
I loved this book.
Tony was and is an inspiration for me. Since finding the ‘Awareness’ tapes, presented here, I’d felt a tremendous affinity with Tony. He spoke to me directly, in real terms, the way no Zen, Dao, Sufi master had, or has, ever managed. For sure, I wouldn’t have invested the time and effort (not that it was effort) creating this place if I hadn’t felt Tony’s words perfectly reflected my own perspectives and feelings (well, on the fleeting occasions that I manage to detach myself from earthly doubts and fears).
So I was thrilled to get this book, eager to gain some insight into a figure now so central in my life. It did not disappoint.
Bill has done extensive research for composing this work: Jesuits, Nuns, Lay people, family… all contribute to building an image of Tony the human being. Amusing, inspirational, insightful images, sharing Tony’s development and evolution, his ideals and motivation, his compassion, and his love, and in some cases his all too humanness. There’s even a few references from those who struggled with Tony and his somewhat larger than life personality and dynamism.
All in all it is a very enjoyable read, brimming with insights and images and creating as good and complete a biography as you could hope for. It also gives the precise timeline and sequence of events leading up to Tony’s death, and confirms that he died the night before he was due to give a live broadcast to 600 universities across the USA.
If I have one frustration it is that I know Tony’s influences came from everywhere and all religions, and that his influence spread far beyond the Catholic church, and although this is acknowledged, personally, perhaps because of my own preferences, I would have liked more insight into these areas (whilst recognising, to be fair, actually finding that information and referencing it is perhaps an impossible task).
So, thank you Bill, I know I am biased, but ‘The Happy Wanderer’ is an absolute treasure, and you can be sure it will accompany me on my (hopefully) happy wanderings.
I hope this book gets both the recognition it deserves, and perhaps more importantly, helps share the love and wisdom of our beautifully gifted brother with all humanity.
jack
Awareness Parts 1-8:
part 1. on waking up
(images courtesy of Zen gardens in Japan)
part 2. will i be of help to you?
(images courtesy of Satoyama)
parts 3 and 4. on the proper kind of selfishness, and, on wanting happiness
(images courtesy of Satoyama)
part 5. on psychology
(images courtesy of Satoyama)
parts 6 and 7. renunciation, and, listen and unlearn
(images courtesy of Satoyama)
part 8a. the masquerade of charity (1 of 2)
(images courtesy of Satoyama)
part 8b. the masquerade of charity (2 of 2)
(images courtesy of Satoyama)
Awareness Parts 01-08 Awareness Parts 09-16 Awareness Parts 17-24 Awareness Parts 25-32
Awareness Parts 33-40 Awareness Parts 41-49 Awareness Parts 50-56
Hi Snoo, recently I’ve purchased the DVD’s “A Way to God for Today. Contains 2 discs. Each disc having 3 segments of 1/2 hour duration. The price was $ 25, this wouldn’t be a problem.
Problem is the P&P for Europe ($ 49 plus import tax….some £ 25)
For USA citizens $ 25 plus $ 5 for P&P is reasonable, but the rest of the world cannot afford it.
I’ve used my friend in Florida to send it to her, and 7 months later I was visiting her and could
take the DVD’s with me home. Some parts of the lectures are not to find nowhere else,like the lecture
on the second disc…and it is recorded in ‘studio’, so no background noises, no music etc…
Is there a way to post them on youtube? Just for not USA citizens? Maria
Maria, I am not sure if this will violate the copyright law of the product you purchased. You can rip the dvd’s to youtube but they maybe taken down for copyright infringement.
Also, I am not sure if you can lock down a region.
There might be another way, please email me: (Maria, i’ll email you snoo’s address. jack)
snoo
The thing to realize is that the Truth that Tony shared is here now, available to all, its nothing something to be found as if its hidden, all one need do is drop that which is false and there is Truth. Tony’s/I AM’s/Consciousness work is divine, how can it not be, from whence do you think it came? It comes through the vehicle/body and is expressed in words/deeds which are based on the foundation of Truth/Unconditional Love/Light. I cannot explain how this happens, all I know is it does. All I can say is when one makes a conscious choice, in full sincerity with the intent to know Truth, when one surrenders all it thinks it knows and enters the path of the unknown, it begins. Not at the pace or way you think it should, but in the most perfect way and at the perfect pace for you, in the most gentle, patient, loving way you cannot even fathom at this moment. It cannot be any other way, to grasp why this is, would be a quantum leap into it. Sitting still in silence and emptying the mind by doing nothing is key to Truth. Silence is not divided, within it one is shown both Truth and falsity as seeing one reveals the other, knowing the cause reveals the cure. If you know the cause of suffering, then the cure is known, how can it not be? There are three things that cannot be divided, Stillness, Emptiness and Silence, these are the keys to Truth as Truth is neither this or that, hence it is not divided. These teaching of Tony’s are not to be believed, beliefs cannot bring you to Truth, they are to be experienced, apperceived (the perceiving of perceiving, but what is perceiving the perceiving) they are to be intuitively perceived, innately known, then you will not have doubt, in Truth there is no doubt, not a thousand armies could take it away from you, no, not death itself! The time is ripe for the world to awaken to who its always been. Humanity is not evolving into what its never been, it is returning to that WHICH IS who/what its always been, the cycle of falsity, of beliefs, of illusions, of the ignorant DIVISION of power and control, of fear based living has about run its course, you can tell by how it is trying so hard to hang on to it with more and more control, but light always dispels darkness, for how much darkness does it take to extinguish the light of one small candle? It cannot be done! Shall you return through suffering, or through Gnosis, have you not suffered enough yet? Awaken.
Thank you for your efforts ALL who gave of themselves to share this work.
Namaste,
Ken
Thanks for the insight Ken,
Suffered enough yet? Not quite. Got to hang on a little longer. Besides you kind of get used to it after a while – Who would have thought that suffering could be so envigorating?
Lots of Namaste,
Dom