[Abridged from Late Fr. Anthony de Mello’s book - ’Call To Love’ and published with kind consent of the publishers - Gujrat Sahitya Prakash. ’Tony’ (1931 - 87) was a universally acclaimed spiritual teacher of divine integrity and wholeness - and he wrote for true seekers of Truth cutting across boundaries of belief, cult and religion. We gratefully remember Fr. ’Tony’ for his spiritual gifts to humanity. - Editor]

I. ATTACHMENTS DRAIN US OF LIFE

It is said that love is blind. But is it? Actually nothing on earth is as clear-sighted as love. The thing that is blind is not love but attachment. An attachment is a state of clinging that comes from the false belief that something or someone is necessary for your happiness.

Do you have any attachment - people or things that you falsely believe you could not be happy without? Make a list of them right now before we go on to study how exactly they blind you.

Think of a politician who has convinced himself he will not be happy unless he gets political power. His quest for power coarsens his sensitivity to the rest of life. He barely has time for his family and friends. Suddenly all human beings are perceived and reacted to in terms of the support or threat that they are to his ambition. And those who can neither threaten nor support he does not even notice. If, in addition to his craving for power, he has an attachment to other things like sex or money, the poor man has become so selective in his perceptions that he could almost be said to be blind.

Everyone sees this, except the man himself. This is the condition that leads to the rejection of truth and beauty and goodness, because one has come to be blind to perceive them.

To be in the state called love you must be sensitive to the uniqueness and beauty of every single thing and person around you. For love excludes no one at all; it embraces the whole of life; it listens to the symphony as a whole, not to just one or the other of the musical instruments.