Why Entrepreneurs Are Obsessed With this Banned Book

Awareness: The Book the Vatican Tried to Ban (And Why Top Entrepreneurs Swear By It)

This video from Matt Diggity explores Awareness by Anthony de Mello, a book that faced Vatican opposition in 1998 yet is now enthusiastically recommended by billionaires and top performers. Diggity breaks down why this "uncomfortable yet profound" book has become essential reading for entrepreneurs like Peter Mallouk (managing ~$700 billion), Tim Ferriss (who has gifted it 50+ times), and Naval Ravikant.

The Core Premise: You're Asleep

• De Mello claims you don't actually want to be happy 🎯
• You're "asleep," meaning most of your distress comes from stories in your head, not actual events
• Being "awake" means your happiness stops depending on any one particular thing going your way—not wanting less, but needing less

Concept 1: You Are Not Your Labels

• Suffering comes from turning what you do into who you are ("I'm a lawyer" vs. "I practice law")
• Diggity's own struggle: 15 years as "Mr. SEO" created identity attachment that fought back when he stepped back
• Actionable test: Complete "I am ___" out loud, then ask what happens if that label disappears. If you'd be fine, it's a description. If you don't know who you'd be, it's an identity running you

Concept 2: The Feeling Is In You, Not The Situation

• Negative feelings aren't in reality—they're in you, so rearranging your world won't fix them
• Diggity's proof: removed the external causes of burnout, yet feelings of guilt and laziness persisted
• Science-backed trick: Use "it is upset" instead of "I am upset"—third-person self-talk reduces emotional reactivity within one second 🧠

Concept 3: You Don't Need What You Think You Need

• Most of what we call love is actually need; if you need someone to make you happy, you must control them
• Detachment exercise: Say out loud "I really do not need you to be happy" about someone you think you can't live without
• Diggity notes this helped him heal childhood patterns around acceptance

Where Diggity Disagrees

De Mello claimed the "sick child" hovers around people, but Diggity points to his own children—one social, one obsessed with cranes—as evidence this overgeneralization doesn't hold. He advises readers to "try ideas on, keep what works, throw out the rest."

"It doesn't get rid of your attachments—it just makes it impossible to keep pretending you don't have them."

Key Takeaway

Awareness doesn't offer comfort; it offers confrontation. The book's value lies in its repeated reading: "Same words, completely different book." Whether you're a burned-out entrepreneur or a high performer, the message is clear—you want happiness, just not enough to put down your attachments.