I’m thinking about it all the time: What do children need most? You see, old people are already accustomed to this kind of existence, this ‘being or not being,’ just hanging around existence.Inspiring Sayings
Children
I’m thinking about it all the time: What do children need most? You see, old people are already accustomed to this kind of existence, this ‘being or not being,’ just hanging around existence.But when children are born, they mamash know, their soul tells them, “You are only born in this world mamash to be completely here.” And they are waiting for encouragement so much, they are waiting so much.
Why do children need love so much when they are little? And they not only need someone to love them… theymamash need this michuyav hamitziut [real existing], they really need this kind of existence. They want tomamash know that they are mamash here.
Therefore the Gemara says that the first thing you do when a little boy or a little girl learns to talk is that you teach them Torah. Because the moment they can talk, their tongue wants to exist, and the tongue exists when you say words of Torah.
When a little boy can shukkle [shake] a lulov [the palm branch waived on Succoth], his hands want to exist, his hands want to shake the lulov. Because each time he is doing a mitzvah he is mamash existing.
On a very simple level, imagine if I feel the same before I’m putting on tefillin and after I’m putting on tefillin, then it was a very lousy putting on tefillin. Because each time I put on tefillin something has to happen to me, suddenly I am ‘mamash here’. Mamash here.
To feel it
So therefore Rebbe Nachman says, this is a very, very high level. Although I’m sure all of us have tasted it for a second, because it’s impossible not to – maybe on Rosh HaShanah you felt it, maybe one time when you were dancing with the Torah on Simchas Torah and you felt it, or maybe one time when you stood by the Holy Wall you really knew, “I am really here, there really is one G-d.”
Three Lessons
Rebbe Nachman, the holy master, says, in order to serve G-d you have to learn, you have to know, three lessons.
The first lesson is that you must learn how to walk, and you must learn how to stand. When you do a mitzvah, when you do something good, you’re walking in G-d’s ways. When you’re praying, you stand before the Only One. But only those who are walking know how to stand, and only those who are standing know how to walk. This is the first lesson.
The second lesson is a bit harder: learn how to fall and how to get up. If you are falling, don’t be sad; you know G-d is teaching you how to get up. If you don’t fall, how can the One, the Only One, teach you how to get up? So when you’re falling, let your heart be filled with joy, because the Only One, who knows and can teach you, is showing you how to get up.
The third lesson is the hardest: I have a feeling that this lesson is about you and me, about all of us. What do you do when you’re falling, and you can’t get up? What do you do when your heart is so broken, your spirit is so destroyed, that there’s nothing to hope for, nothing to look back to? Rebbe Nachman says, in the meantime, keep on walking, in the meantime, keep on praying, in the meantime, keep on loving, until the day when it’s revealed to you that you never fell. How could it be possible to fall when The Only One is holding you so close.
from the book:
Rebbe Nachman Says…
The Teachings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
As Taught by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z”tl
Compiled by Zivi Ritchie
Praying in the field
Likutei Moharan Tinyono 11
Da kesheadam mitpalel basode, azai kol hoasavim kulam ba’in betoch hatfila, umisayin lo, venotnin lo koach betfilato. Veze bechinat shenikret hatfilo sicha. Rebbe Nachman says… I want you to know that when you pray in the field, every blade of grass comes and helps you, and gives you strength to pray. And, therefore, he says, prayer is called sicha. The little grass in the field is called siach hasadeh, and prayer is also calledsicha. So, he says, prayer is actually called ‘little grass from the field.’
It says of Yitzchak, “Vayetze Yitzchak lesuach besade” [Isaac went out to pray in the field]. Or, to pray with the field. He went out in the field in order that all the grasses of the field should help him pray.
Therefore it says in Devarim [Deuteronomy], and we say it in the Shema, “Vehoadomo lo titen et yivula [If you deviate from G-d’s way, then the earth will not yield its produce].” What does it mean? Rebbe Nachman says that it means that the earth will not join you when you pray. Because, he says, even if you are not exactly in the field, but since you need the field for your food, and everything comes from the field, regardless, the field is with you all the way, and helps you pray. Therefore, he says, ‘Yivul’ is the initials of Vayetzey Yitzchak Lasuach Basade. Meaning, the fruit of the field, ‘Yivul’ is made up of the same letters as ‘Yitzchak went out to pray in the field.’
From the book:Rebbe Nachman Says... The Teachings of Rabbi Nachman by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach
Masters and Miracles
Love’s Higher Vision on Relationships
Higher inspiration comes through many different channels. For some, it comes most powerfully through the Masters of loving kindness that have graced our world with their presence of immense compassion. When we connect in our heart with great Masters, they find a way to reach out to us and guide us. Here is one way that happened to me a few years ago. It was a startling experience. Yet, over time, it completely slipped from my memory for a few years. One day, looking through some papers, I was surprised to find these following notes:
“In a dream at night I found myself among spiritual friends in a large gathering, standing close to the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He was sitting there facing us. I mustered up enough courage to approach him and told him: “My husband and I would like to write a book about “Blessing your marriage”.
The Rebbe opened his eyes wide and leaned toward me. In that timeless momentHis presence felt like an awesome,penetrating, all embracing powerful soul contact. I also could feel the presence of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach with him as well.
“Oh that’s a very good idea” he replied with strong empathy and blessings. Then he leaned forward and reaching down with his hand he traced some sweeping patterns over a beautiful light pink floor. I was surprised and I looked. These were free flowing patterns like some flamboyant ancient signature that were curling up in majestic, glowing pink colors.”
The symbolic meaning of these wide curls was his way of speaking to me in my own language, since I am an artist. I understood it well.
When I woke up that morning I spontaneously began to write about love’s higher vision on Relationships, especially about marriage. Words flowed freely on the page like wide, flowing patterns in bright pink, for this color carries the healing energy of Love.
“We cannot live in joy without true love and we all yearn to live in joy. Our golden opportunities given to us for our growth and fulfillment come through marriage, as well as raising children and bonding with real friends, because in these relationships we chose a lasting commitment to cherish, to treasure, to support, to honor and to love others. We are given a chance to express our very best in a true, lasting way, repeated many times over for their many needs and yearnings.
True Love is unconditional. It doesn’t stop when our spouse or children or friends make mistakes. It is accepting the mistakes with a sense of humor. Just like a good mother accepts her young child’s awkward fumbling to get dressed, with a giggle and a compliment, true love shows compassion for our human frailties and vulnerability.
We know that True lasting Love is the gateway to joy. We cannot really feel alive without joy in our lives. Joy is our soul’s primary need, just as food. Without it life becomes tasteless, dull, boring and hateful. It becomes a harsh “reality” for us.
It is known that Reality for us is what we choose to feel within. True Reality is revealed to us when we choose to feel love for God and His creation. When we choose to perceive many souls through the higher vision of love and compassion, when we choose to understand, to honor and to support them through the eyes of Love, we experience true Reality.
True love is a choice we make many times a day. Being loving can become a choice as spontaneous as breathing, as vital, as natural and expected as breathing.
What is true Reality? The harsh “reality” we believe in is there because we don’t know yet that we can choose a better one, the one connected to higher, eternal realms.
We express true love when we are accepting our loved ones just as they are, cherishing the beauty and precious uniqueness of their spirit, sensing the presence of the sacred in the depths of their soul, becoming aware of much greater depths than we knew. When we are sitting quietly together in prayerful moments of sharing, of listening with compassionate empathy and care, we may begin to experience the sense of being united as one. We may somehow become aware of the sacredness and mystery of life that has no boundaries, no limitations ~ a sense of timelessness. A sense, of being nourished with grace and kindness. Harmony embraces us with its crowning beauty.
