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Do you know why
Only old folk tell stories and legends?
Because legends are the cleverest thing in the world!
Everything in the world changes,
And only real legends remain.
Legends are wisdom
And in order to tell them, one needs knowledge,
And to see things others do not.
For that, one needs to have lived a lot.
That is why only old people
Know how to tell legends.
As is written in the greatest, oldest magical book:
“an old person is someone who has acquired wisdom.”
Children
Love to hear legends, because they have imagination
And brains to envisage everything,
Not just what others see.
If a child grows up
And still sees what others do not,
He becomes wise and clever,
He “acquires wisdom.”
And because he sees what others do not,
He knows that imagination is real.
He remains as a child,
“a wise child,”
As it is written in the greatest, oldest magical book
The Zohar.
There once was a magician,
Great, noble and goodhearted…
With all the attributes usually given in children’s books.
But
Because he was so goodhearted,
He did not know
Who to share it with…
He did not have anyone to pour his affection on,
To play with,
To spend time with,
To think of…
He also needed to feel wanted,
Someone to pay attention to him:
To look at him,
Well…
See that he too does not have,
That he misses,
Some attention from someone,
For it is very sad to be alone.
What should he do?
He thought:
If I make a stone,
Just a small one, but beautiful,
Perhaps this will be the answer.
I will stroke the stone
And feel there is something
Constantly by my side,
And we will both feel good,
For it is very sad to be alone.
He waved his wand—chak!
And in an instant
There was a stone exactly as he wanted.
He began to stroke the stone,
To hug it, to talk to it,
But the stone did not respond.
It remained cold
And did nothing in return.
Whatever he did to the stone,
It remained the same unfeeling object
This is unthinkable
How can the stone not respond?
Then
He tried creating some more stones,
And rocks,
Hills, mountains, land
The Earth, the Moon and the galaxy.
But they were all the same…nothing.
And once again he felt
That it is very sad to be alone.
In his sadness he thought:
Perhaps I should make a plant instead
A beautiful plant
And I will give it something, you know,
I will water it
I will give it some air,
Some sunshine,
Play some music for it,
And the plant will be happy.
Then we will both feel good,
For it is very sad to be alone.
He waved his wand—chak
And in an instant there was a plant by his side
Exactly like he wanted.
He was so happy that he began to dance around it.
But the plant did not move,
It did not dance with him
Or follow his movements
It only responded to what the magician gave it,
In the simplest way.
If he gave it water, it grew;
If he did not, it died.
It was not enough for the goodhearted magician,
Who wanted to give it all his heart.
What should he do?
For it is very sad to be alone.
He then created all sorts of plants,
In all sorts of sizes,
Fields, forests, orchards, plantations and groves,
But they all behaved in the same way
Like the first plant…
And again he was alone
In his sadness.
The magician thought and thought:
What should I do?
Create an animal!
What sort of an animal?
A dog perhaps?
Yes, a dog!
I shall make a cute little dog,
That will constantly be with me.
I will take it for walks and the dog will jump and prance and run.
And when I come home to my palace,
Not palace,
Where does a magician live?
A castle?
The dog will be so pleased that I am home
That it will run to greet me.
And we will be happy together,
For it is very sad to be alone.
He waved his wand—chak!
And there was a dog, just as he wanted.
He began to take care of the dog,
Fed it, gave it to drink,
Stroked it,
He even washed it,
And took it for walks.
But
A dog’s love
Is summed up in
Being next to its owner,
Wherever he is.
The magician was very sad to see
That even a dog
Who plays with him so nicely,
And goes everywhere with him,
Still cannot return
All that he wants to give.
A dog cannot be his true friend.
He saw that it cannot appreciate
What he does for it,
What he thinks,
What he wants,
And how much trouble he takes for it.
But that was exactly what the magician needed.
He also created
Fish, fowls, mammals,
All to not avail—
None of them understood him.
It was very sad to be alone.
The magician sat, thought and realized
That in order to have a true friend,
He must be someone,
Who will look for the magician,
Will want him very much,
Someone
Who will be like me,
Who will be able to do things like me,
Who will be able to love like me,
Who will understand me.
But to be like me? Mmm…
My partner?
My friend?
He would have to be someone
Who would understand what I give him,
Who can reciprocate
And do to me what I do to him.
Magicians also want to love
And be loved.
Then we would both be content.
For it is very sad to be alone.
So the magician thought:
Perhaps a man?
It seems like good idea.
He can be my true friend!
He can be like me!
He can love like me!
He will only need some help to be like me.
Then we will both feel good,
Because it is very sad to be alone.
But in order for us to feel good,
He must first feel what it is like,
What it’s like
To be lonely.
That it is very sad without me.
Then the magician waved his wand again—chak!
And there was a distant place
Away from him,
And in it was a man.
And the man
Does not feel the magician
Who made
All the stones, plants and animals
Houses, mountains and fields,
The sun and the moon, rains and winds, and so on,
All for him.
Aha!
An entire world filled with beauty and bounty,
Even computers and football,
That make him feel good,
And that there is nothing lacking.
But the magician,
On the other hand,
Continues to feel sad that he is alone.
Because the man
Doesn’t know that
There is a magician
Who created him,
Who loves him,
Who waits for him,
And who says:
We will both be happy together,
Because it is very sad to be alone.
But how can a man
Who is content,
Who has both a computer and football,
Who doesn’t know the magician,
Want all of a sudden to find him,
To know him,
To unite with him,
To love him,
To be his friend,
To be close to him?
And to tell the magician…
“Come!”
We will both feel good together,
Because it is very sad to be alone
Without you.
It is because
A man only knows what is in his vicinity,
What should be done,
What everyone does,
To say
What everyone says,
To want
What everyone wants,
Not to offend the elders,
To ask nicely for presents,
A computer, a football.
How can he possibly know
That there is a magician
Who feels sad to be alone?
But the magician
Is goodhearted
And constantly looks after the man.
And then
When the time comes,
Very quietly,
And very slowly,
From a distance,
The magician waves his wand—chak!
And calls the man's heart.
And the man thinks to himself:
Aha! I am looking for something
And he doesn't know
That it is actually the magician
Calling him,
Come!
We will feel good together,
Because it is very sad to be alone,
Without you.
Then
The magician waves his wand—chak!
And the man feels
Aha… the magician!
And he begins to think about him,
That together they will feel good,
Because it is very sad to be
Without the magician.
And another—chak!
And the man feels in his heart,
That there is a magic tower somewhere,
A tower full of goodness and might,
In which the magician waits for him,
And only there they will feel good,
Because we both feel sad to be alone.
But where is this tower?
How can he reach it?
What is the way?
He asks himself, puzzled and confused.
Well?
How can he meet the magician?
He keeps hearing “chak—chak”
In his heart
And he cannot sleep.
He constantly sees
Magicians and mighty towers,
And cannot even eat.
That’s what happens
When a person wants something very much,
And cannot find it,
And it is sad to alone.
But in order
To be like the magician,
Wise, great, noble, goodhearted,
Loving and a friend,
A man must learn to make wonders himself,
Just like the magician.
But in order to do this
A wave of a wand—chak!
Is not enough.
This is something a man must attain by himself.
So, the magician
Secretly and subtlety,
Gently and innocuously,
Leads him
To the greatest, oldest magical book,
The Zohar…
And shows him the way,
To the mighty tower!
And the man rushes
To meet the magician,
To meet a friend,
And to tell him:
Come!
We will feel good together,
Because it is very sad to be alone.
Yet, there is a high wall surrounding the tower
And many guards repel him,
Not letting them be together
And feel good.
And the more the man surges
And moves nearer the tower,
The guards become more vigilant,
Stronger and arduous,
Mercilessly flaying him.
The man despairs:
The magician is hiding far away in the tower,
The gates are locked, the wall is high,
The guards are vigilant, pushing him back,
No one can pass.
What will happen?
How can we be together,
Feel good together?
Because it is very sad to be alone.
But every time he weakens and despairs,
He suddenly feels—chak!
And rushes to the walls again,
To circumvent the guards, no matter what!
To break the gates, to reach the tower,
To climb the rungs of the ladder
And reach the magician.
And then he can no longer bear it,
And he doesn’t feel a chak! in his heart.
He cries to the magician
From the bottom of his heart,
With all his pain:
“Why do you call me in vain?”
“Where are you?”
“I am alone!”
But if the man is patient,
Then from all the pushing and the beating
He becomes braver,
Stronger and cleverer.
He learns how to do magic
By himself.
How to invent all kinds of tricks,
Which only a magician can do.
And of all the things in the world,
What he wants now the most
Is to be with the magician,
To see his face,
Because only with him will he feel good.
Even if everything in the world were given to him,
Without the magician
He feels alone.
And then
When he can no longer bear to be without him,
The gates of the tower open, and the magician, his magician,
Rushes toward him and says:
Come!
We will be good together,
Because it is very sad to be alone.
And since then
They have become faithful friends,
Close friends,
Beloved friends
And there is no finer pleasure than that,
Between fellow men forever into infinity.
They feel so good together
That they never remember,
Not even occasionally,
How sad it is to be alone.
And whoever feels the
Chak! Chak! in his heart,
That the most important thing is to know the magician,
That only with him will he feel good…
For it is very sad to be alone.
Author: Rav Michael Laitman, PhD |
