Moral of the Furious Worm
Just because we don't see something doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Even in the physical world, all sorts of phenomena exist on various levels..
We are exploring the two main causes of anger: arrogance and lack of spiritual awareness. Having explored the damage of arrogance we now take a look at the effects of the lack of spiritual awareness. We continue with our story of the worms:
* * *
The hikers decide to aid Wilma's almost hopeless cause, lay the apple on the ground, and carefully make an incision with a penknife. Soon, both worms poke their heads out.
Wilma: I told you, Wendy! Look at this tremendous world outside our apple. Notice how miniscule our apple is compared to the world at large. Mmmm, smell those exotic aromas – we can choose from a myriad of delightful delicacies such as fennel, clover, or wild mint. You see, no more tremors; the warmth of the sun has returned. Mother was right…
Wendy (unable to concede the point): Wilma, excuse me, but you have less brains than I gave you credit for. Our universe has been destroyed – here it is cut open before your very eyes. We are now dead, in the World to Come…
Wilma: Dead? I'll show you, stubborn sister; there's one way to make you understand! (and she bites her sister in a very sensitive place)
Wendy: Ouch! What did you do that for?
Wilma: Certainly not out of anger, not like other worms, not to mention any names, but to show you that we're still very much alive. You wasted an entire day with temper and impatience, complaining about the cold and the tremors. If you'd have only listened to me, you could have prevented needless aggravation. Look how nasty you've treated me all day long. Did I deserve it? Have I ever given you anything other than compassionate sisterhood and affection?
Wendy (embarrassed): No.
Wilma: I also suffered from the cold, the darkness, and the tremors. Don't forget, we're in the same boat – I mean, the same apple. The difference between the two of us is that as the senior egg, I received the oral tradition from mother. Mother taught me spiritual awareness.
Wendy: What do you mean?
Wilma: I knew all about mother, the apple, and the tremendous outside world that you are now witnessing with your own two eyes. Even when I didn't see them, I still believed in them. Because of spiritual awareness, my vistas weren’t limited to this apple.
Wendy: Are you trying to tell me that I was blind?
Wilma: Look in retrospect – you refused to believe what you couldn't see. Now that you're on a higher cognizance level – the restrictions of our former environment no longer seal us from the outside world – you can see that everything I told you was true. Here are the sun, the trees, and the outside world before your very eyes. Hey, look at those two giants – they must be the hikers!
Wendy: I really must apologize, big sister. I know that I acted unbearably all day long. Do you forgive me?
Wilma: Certainly I do, sweetheart. I want to teach you a few more things, so that you'll overcome your anger and your negative feelings. The fear and the worry that you suffered from are examples of the negative emotional byproducts of anger. Birds of a feather flock together.
Wendy: I don't quite understand. Why was I so angry about today's tremors?
Wilma: Good question; you lacked spiritual awareness. Since you thought that your suffering was random, with no rhyme or reason and beyond your control, you developed feelings of fear and futility, further intensified by your growing frustration. That's the formula for an emotional 4-F profile: Fear, futility, frustration, and finally fury.
Wendy: How would spiritual awareness have helped me?
Wilma: With spiritual awareness, you'd have known that today's events were perfectly planned and completely under the control of a great master Creator for our own benefit. Therefore, you would have been calm and collected like I was. Oh yes, I have a few bruises from the rough ride we took today, but I knew that this was a necessary step toward a bigger and better life. I believed Mother, and you should have believed me, confident that I would never lie to you. Notice how our situation has improved within a few short hours: Solid ground, our choice of a number of new homes, gourmet food – you name it! Are you beginning to understand?
Wendy: Yes, and I'm learning to pay attention to you, big sister. I'm sorry for being so worm-headed. Tell me, though – who's that master Creator that does things for our own good?
Wilma: Every creature distinctly and intimately knows who he is – God. Before Mother left the apple, she spoke to us – her beloved eggs – and said that she must leave the apple before we are born, but that we should never worry, since God will care for us. I can describe the difference between your anger and my patience with two words – spiritual awareness.
Wendy: Explain to me a little more, Wilma.
Wilma: Certainly, dear. Today, while you thought that our tribulations were happenstance, you had nothing to cling to and therefore succumbed to negative emotions. I had Mother's oral tradition – which has been passed down from worm to worm since the beginning of time – and therefore knew that some strange and exciting events, no matter how trying at the time, would ultimately lead to a wonderful improvement in our lives. Spiritual awareness helped me realize that our world was not limited to the walls of the apple in front of our noses. Wasn't I correct?
Wendy (licks a fennel leaf): You certainly were! But tell me something else, Wilma. Who is God? I don't see him…
Wilma: Until a few moments ago, you didn't see the sun, the trees, and the grass either. You've already learned that your former hypothesis of our apple as the entire universe is mistaken. Just because we don't see something doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. Even in the physical world, all sorts of phenomena exist on various levels that we don't see.
Wendy: Can you cite an example?
Wilma: Of course – the air is full of sound waves on different frequencies. We neither hear them nor see them. Humans have these plastic boxes with all types of wires and transistors inside, called radios. By turning on a radio, you can capture the sound waves that are floating around in the air. You can hear people talking, without seeing them. If you have a different type of box, called a television, you can see them too. Let's go one step further: You can never see God, because He's spiritual and not physical, but the more you develop your spiritual antennas, the more you feel and hear Him, rather like a radio broadcast on a spiritual level.
Wendy: I believe you, big sister. I'm hungry – can we have dinner?
Wilma: Certainly, sweetheart. After dinner, we're both going to bed under a nice warm quilt of maple leaves on a soft mattress of pine needles, in the shelter of a fresh mushroom. You'll love our new home in the wide wonderful world of worry-free worms.
Wendy: Thanks, big sister – I love you, too.
The main consolation of all life's troubles, our greatest hope, and our expectation of pleasure in the World to Come are none other than spiritual awareness. — Rebbe Nachman of Breslev
The Moral of the Furious Worm
We oftentimes refer to the environment at the tip of our noses as reality, and deny whatever seems intangible to our sorely limited level of perception. Such lack of spiritual awareness severely restricts both emotional and intellectual growth. A person without spiritual awareness develops feelings of fear, futility, and utter frustration, which lead directly to anger, because he or she fails to see the ultimate benefits of life's difficulties.
Whenever a person regards pain and tribulations as random, inexplicable, and purposeless, life becomes miserable. Spiritual awareness gives us insight and understanding to all our dilemmas, and allows us to channel our emotional powers to a positive, anger-free path.
Jewish spirituality is based on a 34-centuries-old unbroken tradition from teacher to pupil since Moshe (Moses) on Mount Sinai. Many people deny the lessons of spirituality on the grounds of so-called modern enlightenment. Such "enlightenment" is really spiritual darkness, or the lack spiritual awareness, just like Wendy the Worm.
The higher one ascends the spiritual ladder, the more spiritual cognizance increases. The higher you go, the more you get to know God, and the happier you become. Everyone knows that the best view is at the top of the mountain. That's where you and I are heading.
To be continued…
(The Trail to Tranquility is available in the Breslev Store.)
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