No great merit in it if it’s mechanical

The beauty of an action comes not from its having become a habit but from its sensitivity, consciousness, clarity of perception, and accuracy of response.”

I read this just after I patted myself on the back for being so methodical in running 100 miles per month. It got me thinking about habits and how even seemingly good habits can be distractions, a form of running away.

There is much to wonder about in Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello. I highly recommend it (and shared another section here).

The whole passage goes like this:

“I remember another Jesuit who said to us once at an intimate gathering of the men of our Jesuit province in Bombay, “I’m eighty years old; I’ve been a Jesuit for sixty-five years, I have never once missed my hour of meditation, never once.”

Now, that could be very admirable, or it could also be a compulsion. No great merit in it if it’s mechanical.

The beauty of an action comes not from its having become a habit but from its sensitivity, consciousness, clarity of perception, and accuracy of response.”

Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality by Anthony de Mello