Heaven or Hell

I read this book once, it's title is 'Awareness'. The writer was Anthony de Mello. You see, I really like de Mello's books, because they are usually quite eye-opening. The things that are written in his books might be hard to swallow at times, if you really reflect yourself on it. And the things that he wrote in 'Awareness' are no exception. Coming from a Catholic priest, this book might be considered 'unbelievable' or 'outrageous' for some people. Indeed, a friend of mine (who has also read that book and likes it) forwarded it to her Protestant priest and he said that that book should be burned.

But I believe that what de Mello was trying to do was just to point out the harsh truth inside every man. A bitter truth, but the truth nonetheless. In my own personal opinion, that truth is part of what being human is all about. And I believe that once a person can be at peace with this truth, life would be a lot easier for him or her. Or maybe harder. Who knows anyways.

In any case, I would really like to give a review about de Mello's 'Awareness', but I think this book deserves more than just a review. And in that review I will not be able to help but to give my own interpretation about the subject that is brought to attention in that book, and that will only take away the true intention of the book. So, just go ahead and look for the book and read it for yourself. Give yourself a favour and read it with an open mind.

Well, up until now I'm just talking about the 'truth', the 'truth' and the 'truth' without saying what the 'truth' is all about. To describe this, I would like to quote from a book that I am still reading right now (a review is coming, once I finish reading the book that is :P). I was quite taken by this short paragraph I found in this book. It is harsh, but in a twisted way, true.I believe that what I'm quoting runs along the same line as what de Mello is trying to say to us in 'Awareness', albeit with different words. This short story is taken from David Mitchell's fiction novel 'Ghostwritten'. Read it with an open mind. And of course, how you interpret it is all up to you.

'I guess this isn't really a secret, it's more of a story. I remember a sermon. A traveller went on a journey with an angel. They entered a house with many floors. The angel opened one door, and in it was a room with one long low bench running around the walls, crammed with people. In the centre was a table piled with sweetmeats. Each guest had a very long silver spoon, as long as a man is tall. They were trying to feed themselves, but of course they couldn't - the spoons were too long, and the food kept falling off. So in spite of there being enough food for everyone, everyone was hungry. "This," explains the angel, "is hell. The people do not love each other. They only want to feed themselves."'

'Then the angel took the traveller to another room. It was exactly the same as the first, only this time instead of trying to feed themselves, the guests used their spoons to feed one another, across the room. "Here," said the angel, "the people think only of one another. And by doing so, they feed themselves. Here is heaven."'

Tatyana thought for a moment. 'There's no difference.'

'No difference?'

'No difference. Everybody both in heaven and hell wanted one and the same thing: meat in their bellies. But those in heaven got their shit together bettter. That's all.'

Taken from 'Ghostwritten', written by David Mitchell