Forgetfulness Leads to Exile while Remembrance is the Secret of Redemption
Baal Shem Tov was sitting in his garden one day, and thought, “I am pretty sure that I have figured this all out, but sometimes we forget so I must be vigilant.”
A man was in a living far away village and had built a reputation that his deep faith in God allowed him to have no worries, so the Rabbi was interested in going to visit to see how this man lived. He was known as an abrasive pest to some, but a wise owl to others.
“Perhaps we have forgotten something that this man knows,” thought the Rabbi.
Baal Shem Tov traveled a far distance to see the man and eventually knocked on his door. The man welcomed him and made him his guest. This man was slightly strange in that his cupboards were nearly bare and he obviously had very little money even though rent collection was coming up of the yearly 300 gold pieces payment.
“Hello Baal Shem Tov welcome to my small slice of Heaven, I don’t have much but will gladly fix you up a meal of whatever I do have.”
Rabbi Tov repeatedly asked the man not to use his last goods to serve him, but nevertheless the man insisted.
While the man began to cook the guest his dinner, Rabbi Tov sparked up a conversation: “You do realize that the yearly rent is coming up soon? How do you plan to pay for it?”
Getting his fire stoked to prepare the meal, the man replied: “I may not have the gold yet, but my faith is strong and God always provides as I am merely his servant.”
“Fear builds walls to bar the light,” Rabbi Tov had subtly gestured.
“To be abrasive to others in our show of Faith, to exist freely at God’s will, is a great gift. A living point. A double edged sword that can penetrate even the greatest non-believers. Faith trumps acts. I am merely an acting player for the Lord above, who risks at His will. If the money comes, if it doesn’t it is also His will.”
Knowing the collectors would be there any day, Baal Shem Tov impressed with this display of faith decided to stay with the man to see the results of this way or level of being.
After the meal was served a knock was heard on the door. The man opened the door for whoever was knocking without asking who it was.
Baal Shem Tov thought it would be the collectors, but instead it was three men.
“Hello sir, we hear that you are friends with who owns this land and we are interested in paying you for your services to work out a deal that we may buy land here. Would you be capable of performing this role and if so how much would it cost us?”
The man responded, “Ah yes, I am friends with the man who owns this land and yes I may be able to facilitate a deal.” Baal Shem Tov sat there in silence watching the man work.
“And how much would you charge for this service?” the men responded.”
“It would be 300 gold pieces on my part and I am sure you would be able to buy at least some land.”
The men looked at each other incredulously, “Are you stupid fool? 300 gold pieces? That is enough to pay for the entire estate.”
“Well that’s my price, if you don’t want to pay it, then I’m sure you can find someone else round here to work with you. Have a good day.”
Baal Shem Tov sat there in silence until the conversation was done. “You might be able to get a a lower amount and move to another place with cheaper rent?”
The man sat down and lit his pipe full of dandelions, “No no it is okay Rabbi, God always provides and if He doesn’t then I know it is my sign to move on, to go back on adventure… to the land of spontaneity.”
Baal Shem Tov once again impressed decided to see what would happen and stayed overnight.
The next day a knock came early in the morning. It was the rent collector owner by landowner to collect the 300 gold pieces.
Baal Shem Tov watched from within.
The man came out with a few stools to greet the collector.
“Hello good to see you again. You know it is that time of year again. Hate to do it, but do you have the gold?”
The man looked down and said a small silent prayer. And looked back up and in the distance those three men came running onto the property.
“We are sorry to bother you again sir, may we have one more moment of your time!”
The man asked the collector if he could wait a moment. He walked over to the men on the other side of his gate.
“Sir, we have been all around this area and there is no other men who will offer us a connection to the man who owns this land for your price. So, we ask again will you accept our gold to bring us a connection with the man?”
“I can do that. But I’ll need that 300 pieces of gold now you know?
The men agreed, and slung him a bag full of the precious metal.
“I’ll contact you when the owner is ready to meet.”
The three men walked back to where they came from.
The man then approached the collector and laid out the bag of 300 pieces of gold.
The collector counted the money, a contract extension for the land the man owned was signed, and a bag of seeds was given from the collector to the man as was his yearly duty or quota to fulfill. The man slipped this in his pocket and the collector got on up out of there. The man casually walked back to the home, with Rabbi Tov observing through the window.
“Well, it is all settled. At least for now.” The man confided into the Rabbi. The Rabbi was speechless with what he had seen. He knew that the man did not know the the three men would come. He knew that the man didn’t care if they returned. And he saw the Divinity of the Lord work in all its precious ways spontaneously in that moment. He understood the man’s methods and example and with that, thanked the man for this hospitality and left.
The man went about his time doing whatever he did, falling asleep with no feeling of worry or something left to do, and waking up with no feeling of worry or something that must be done, while Baal Shem Tov returned to his own hometown and brought the imperative to his own people:
“Your fellow man is your mirror. If your own face is clean, the image you perceive will also be flawless. But should you look upon your fellow man and see a blemish, it is your own imperfection that you are encountering — you are being shown what it is that you must correct within yourself.”
With that, the multitude of potentiality within Baal Shem Tov’s world unpredictably flowered and blossomed into the world we live in today. Amen to Baal Shem Tov and the Good Lore above.
Teatr Terms 0–1 23’-24’
Subjective — To be with personal perspective or opinion
Objective — to exist without necessity of personal perspective.
Lens on Life — a way to see or track our own progress or other’s progress.
To develop — the conscious choice to put aside immediate gratification of desires for the purpose of investing in oneself.
Investing in Oneself: Putting (investing) time in the now to increase the likelihood of a higher level of freedom, joy, and happiness in the future
To act / acting: To be consistently noticing reactions happening within to reach a reaction-less state. Know the difference between to notice and to observe. Noticing is instantaneous. Observation is continuous. Once a reaction is noticed, let it go and forget about it. Note) Not the same as “to perform”. Through this process, one becomes an “actor” or “actress.”
To play / playing: a state of mind beyond right or wrong, bad or good, that all events, especially unexpected ones, are merely funny.
To risk / risking: the conscious or unconscious choice to do something risky, in order to reach a fearless state. Repeatedly taking risks in any endeavor will transform any fear into a joy / desire.
To direct / directing: to help others understand and apply the three main concepts of theater.
To succeed: the process of accepting difficulties for the process of overcoming and making life or a task easier. Earned.
Protagonist: if one understands and applies the above knowledge they are a protagonist.
Antagonist: if one attempts to stop someone from understanding or applying the above knowledge they are an antagonist.
Unpredictable: the goal of learning the above is to become unpredictable. Unpredictable in life and on stage. If we are unpredictable we are no longer reacting, but acting. Being unpredictable is not knowing how we are going to be or act, which is also being spontaneous, on stage or in life. Beyond predictable / manipulatable. In the state of play, the most unpredictable and unexpected events are 1) most noticeable and 2) most funny, a la when something is instantly noticeable / funny it is also “memorable.” So to become unpredictable is to become “memorable.”
Memorable: Being easily remembered without trying to be.
To bond / to ensemble: By knowing and utilizing the above objective lens of life, we can learn to become authentic, unique, original individuals. We can also see others as authentic, unique, and original. When two individuals consciously or unconsciously see each other as authentic and unique, a bond will slowly form between the two. When a larger group of people are all “bonded” they are also “ensembled,” reaching a collective state of respect and beyond “ego,” where no one is more or less important than anyone else. Emsembling naturally increases the level of conduciveness of a classroom and school. An ensemble will provide support to all members of the ensemble for as long as any members of the ensemble are together and from abroad.
Conduciveness: the higher level of conduciveness, the higher the amount of development can occur.
Abrasive / Abrasion: To consciously or unconsciously be in a form that causes others to react. This allows those who are reacting from the abrasion to observe their reactions, once they understand how to act, and overall it increases the amount of progress that can occur. (Also known as defensive /defense)
Care / Caring: To consciously or unconsciously support another individual, spontaneously or overtime.
To be abrasive is also caring for someone just on a deeper level, helping them to make the choice to learn to act.
Open Mind: to be open to evolving one’s concepts or terms.
Closed Mind: to be closed to evolving one’s concepts or terms.
Truth: spontaneously risking in the pursuit of a perceived injustice. Truth itself is a path.
EZE 5/17/24 6:50 PM EST
Update 5/28/24 15:50
To dance: to live, to travel, to move spontaneously while being in a state of no worries by truly understanding that moment that nothing else must be done.
To make art (be an artist): to be abrasive or comforting by one’s existence in this way or that. To non-intentionally be, create, or do something abrasive or comforting that causes a reaction.
To be an artist is to be one that is aware of when art is consciously or unconsciously being created by themselves or others; A creator or observer of points of abrasion / comfort.
Points: products that objectively exist beyond one’s constant intent that may cause abrasion or comfort by their existence.
Even a Broken Clock is Right Twice a Day while Even a Toad Can Sometimes Make a Point
5/29/24: 23:30
6b: To listen: to be in a state of constant attention to what another is saying the entire time they are talking or making a point. To not be thinking about how one will respond until after the full sentence or statement is made.
To listen is to cleanse and purify naturally and helps to overcome our own ego’s desire to make a point when a point is in the process of being made.
To not think if we will like a song before or during the playback, but to wait and then respond after all parts are performed.
5/29/24: 23:30
9b: Pride: to take excessive or any credit in the choice, decision, evolution, development or achievement of another individual.
Pride Motto:
“When one no longer takes credit for the understanding that others have of what they say or the evolution or path that another may take, they essentially BECOME cups that overfloweth. There is no restriction to the amount that other’s who participate in dialogue can drink, as there is no one between the cup and those with thirst.”
GRAFF Tag: “Be directors that overfloweth.”
And “Go get em’”
Nice shake.
