Gaia: The Sacred Pool - Masters, Mystics, Saints - Jewish Tradition

Rabbi Abramtzi

http://mettakaruna.gaia.com — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 20:05:27 GMT

Rabbi Abramtzi was a man full of compassion for all living things. He would not walk on the grass of the field lest he trample it down. He was very careful not to tread on grasshoppers or crawling insects. If a dog came to the door of his house, he would instruct the members of his household to feed the animal. In winter he would scatter crumbs of bread and seed on the windowsills. When sparrows and other birds arrived and began to pick at the food, he could not remove his gaze from them and his face would light up with joy like that of a little child.

He looked after his horses far better than his coachmen did. When traveling, if the coach had to ascend an incline, he would climb down in order to lighten the load, and more often than not he would push the cart from behind. On summer days he would compel his coachman to stop on the way and turn aside to a field in order that the horses could rest and partake of the pure green grass. The rabbi loved these rest periods in the forest. While the horses were grazing, he would sit under a tree and interest himself in a book. At times he would pray in the field or the forest. This gave him great pleasure, for he used to say,

"The field and the forest are the most beautiful and finest of the Houses of the Lord."
It happened once that the rabbi was on the road on a Friday. It would take another three hours to reach home. Because of the rain, the road was a mess. The wagon could only proceed with difficulty; the mud gripped the wheels and slowed down its progress. It was midday and they had not even completed half the journey. The horses were tired and worn out. They had no energy to proceed further.

The "tzaddik" (saint) told the driver to stop and to give fodder to the horses, so that they could regain their strength. This was done. Afterwards the journey was continued, but the going was heavy and the wagon sank up to the hubs of the wheels in the mud. In fact it was with the greatest difficulty that the horses maintained their balance in the swampy ground. The vapor of sweat enveloped their skin. Their knees trembled and at any moment they would have to rest. The coachman scolded and urged them on. He then raised his whip on the unfortunate creatures. The tzaddik grabbed him by the elbow and cried out: "This is cruelty to animals, cruelty to animals." The coachman answered in fury: "What do you want me to do? Do you want us to celebrate the Sabbath here?"

"What of it?" replied the rabbi quietly. "It is better that we celebrate the Sabbath here than cause the death of these animals by suffering. Are they not the creatures of the Lord? See how exhausted they are? They have not the energy to take one more step forward." "But what of the Sabbath? How can Jews observe the Sabbath in the forest?" asked the coachman.

"My friend, it does not matter. The Sabbath Queen will come to us also here, for her glory fills the whole world, and particularly in those places where Jews yearn for her. The Lord shall do what is good in His eyes. He will look after us, supply us with our wants and guard us against all evil."

The Maggid of Mezerich

http://mettakaruna.gaia.com — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 22:37:55 GMT

Think of your soul as part of the Divine Presence as the raindrop in the sea...
The [premanifest] world is not subject even to the commandments... it is beyond even ethical action which, as action, is dualistic.
Before an egg can grow into a chicken, it must first totally cease to be an egg. Each thing must lose its original identity before it can be something else. Therefore, before a thing is transformed into something else, it must come to the level of No-thingness...

The Doctor and Baal Shem Tov

http://mettakaruna.gaia.com — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 02:28:29 GMT

The Baal Shem Tov and the Doctor

told by Doug Lipman

Once, a famous doctor met one of his patients on the street. Without a word of greeting, the doctor said, "I told you not to walk on that leg until it heals!"

"But it IS healed," said the man.

"Impossible! I saw the wound in that leg. It will take months!"

"I went to another kind of healer, doctor. I went to a mystical rabbi, the one they call the Baal Shem Tov."

The doctor narrowed his eyes, then simply walked away.

A week later, the doctor rapped loudly on the Baal Shem Tov's door. When the door opened, he said, "I hear you claim to be a healer!"

The Baal Shem Tov looked at his visitor. "God is the healer, my friend. Come in!"

The doctor did not move. "Let us examine each other," he said. "Whoever best diagnoses the sickness of the other will be proved the better doctor."

The Baal Shem Tov smiled. "As you wish. But please do me the favor of coming in!"

Once inside, the doctor began his examination of the Baal Shem Tov. The doctor poked him, pinched him, gazed in his ears, and tapped on his knees. After an hour, the doctor said, "You have no sickness that I can find."

"I am not surprised that you could not find it," said the Baal Shem Tov. "I so desire the presence of God that my heart cries out in pain when I can not feel it. My sickness is this constant yearning for God." The Baal Shem Tov looked at the doctor a long while. "Let me now examine you."

The Baal Shem Tov took the doctor's hands and gazed into his eyes. At last the rabbi said, "Have you ever lost something very valuable?"

"As a matter of fact," said the doctor, "I once had a large jewel, but it was stolen from me."

"Ah! That is your sickness!" said the Baal Shem Tov.

"What? Missing my diamond?"

"No. My sickness is yearning after God. Your sickness is that you have forgotten that you ever had that desire."

The doctor sucked in a breath. In a moment, a tear flowed down his cheek. One tear turned to many. Still holding the hands of the Baal Shem Tov, he began to sob. "Please," he said. "Teach me how to yearn!"

"With God's help," said the Baal Shem Tov, "your healing has already begun."

Re: Ein Sof and You - Moses Cardoveros

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 05:14:24 GMT

Pantheism, in its deepest, most wonder-full sense. All one, all divine. A beautiful way to see the world, and I'm not sure it's just a matter of perspective. Sometimes it seems like simple reality.

Ein Sof and You - Moses Cardoveros

http://mettakaruna.gaia.com — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 05:10:20 GMT

Each of us emerges from Ein Sof [The Unnameable One] and is included in it. We live through its dissemination. It is the perpetuation of existence. The fact that we sustain ourselves on vegetation and animal life does not mean that we are nourished on something outside of it. This process is like a revolving wheel, first descending, then ascending. It is all one and the same, nothing is separate from it. Though life branches out further and further, everything is joined to Ein Sof, included and abiding in it.

Delve into this. Flashes of intuition will come and go, and you will discover a secret here. If you are deserving, you will understand the mystery of God on you own.

Re: The Mystic Mountain

http://mettakaruna.gaia.com — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 05:00:28 GMT

this is beautiful and clean - (does that sound weird) - it is like a breath of fresh air.

Metta

Re: The Mystic Mountain

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 03:33:42 GMT

This last post here in the Jewish discussion is about Qabalah, which is the mystic teachings of the western mysteries through the ancient Jewish and Christian systems of learnings. So I choose to put it here!

Shalom,

Binah

The Mystic Mountain

Fri, 02 Jun 2006 03:31:42 GMT

My heart sings , soars, and glides

Listening with my heart

To the deep reflection

of my Soul

in the still waters of the living mountain

snow covered, sparkling waters

of life and breath, Ruach.

-Binah