The Prayer of the Frog Called into Question

Ecumenical Review, The, April, 1999 by T.K. Thomas

   See, I am simply made up of my body and soul, yet I introduce that "I" over
   them, and speak of "my body" and "my soul". Who is that "I" to whom my soul
   and body belong? As the Irishman asked his parish priest, "When I die, my
   body will be in the grave, and my soul in heaven; but ... where will `I'
   be?" In reality there is no such "I", but we somehow imagine that there is
   little person at the back of our skull who owns our mind and body, feels
   responsible for them, controls them and so it becomes an "I" controlling
   "me", which is an impossible bind. Think of the expression "I have to save
   my soul". Who is this "I" that has to save "his" soul? Someone different
   from the soul, isn't it? Otherwise how could "he" save it? So we have put a
   Self in charge of the soul. The Self will save its soul. But who now, pray,
   will save the Self?. Obviously we have to put another Self in charge of the
   first Self ... Unless we get rid of the first Self there is no way out of
   the labyrinth.(26)

Words such as self-denial and self-control are meaningless expressions. Self is the final obstacle to love. Once the self is dropped, all the attachments we have been trying to get rid of will drop off on their own.

The question "what remains?" is hardly raised and remains unanswered, as far as one can make out. Not that this mystical approach is new; it is in fact an integral part of Hindu metaphysics. But how it can be accommodated within the world-affirming orientation of the biblical faith is not clear - an affirmation of the here and now which is celebrated in much of de Mello's own writings.

Both these books testify to the impact de Mello had on people, as friend and mentor. They are not uncritical, but they affirm that people heard the bird sing, and for them de Mello's role was profoundly corrective and inspiring. The part de Mello played in making people aware of encumbrances of every kind - credal, scriptural, institutional and so on - cannot be dismissed as irrelevant or unimportant.

The "Notification" of the Vatican

The official church's more recent assessment of de Mello's work is far more critical.(27) And understandably so.

That assessment is in two parts. The first and shorter one is a "Notification concerning the writings of Fr Anthony de Mello, S.J.". It begins on a positive, if cautious, note. Fr de Mello's work contains "some valid elements of Oriental wisdom" which can help people to achieve self-mastery (a word that de Mello would have dismissed as nonsensical, even "insane"),(28) to break the chains that keep them in bondage and to equip them to face the vicissitudes of life. Especially in his earlier writings he had "remained within the lines of Christian spirituality" though the influence of Buddhist and Taoist thought was discernible even then. In these early writings he dealt with the different kinds of prayer - petition, intercession and praise - and the contemplation of Christ's life and work. Even in these writings, however, and much more in his later work "one notices a progressive distancing from the essential contents of the Christian faith".