Teachings from Rabbi Nachman (Breslov)

B"H

Here a few teaching to warm up during the cold winter. Enjoy and have a great Shabbat.

Rabbi Nachman from Breslov says in his famous book LIKUTEI MOHARAN:


If a person doesn't focus on the purpose, what is the point of his life?

Each mitzvah that a person does in this world creates a lamp with which he can explore the treasure house of the King after he dies. This is the ultimate bliss of the life to come.

A person must long to attain the highest possible level. And he must not allow himself to fall from even the smallest level.

In this world it is completely impossible for a person to know where he is holding . Not knowing where one stands is one of the main tests in life.

Everything you see in the world – everything that exists – is there for the sake of free will, in order to test people. The entire world and all that it contains were created to give man free will.

What is free will? If you want, you do it , and if you don't want, you don't do it.

When you look outside, what do you see? The market, wagons, horses, people running in all directions…? Fifty years from now the market will be completely different, with different horses and wagons, different merchandise and different people. I won't be here and you won't be here.
Then let me ask you now: How come you are so busy and preoccupied that you don't even have time to look up at the sky?

Imagine yourself in the middle of the sea, with a storm raging to the very heart of the heavens. You are hanging by a hairsbreadth. You have no idea what to do. You don't even have time to cry out. You can only raise your eyes and lift up your heart to God.

You should constantly lift up your heart to God in exactly the same way. Go aside and cry out to God. For everyone is in great danger in this world – as you know very well deep inside your soul. Understand these words very carefully.

It is a great mitzvah to be happy always!

You must search for the good in yourself.

When you start looking deep within yourself, you may think there is no good in you at all. You may feel you are full of evil: a negative voice inside you may try to drive you into depression. But you must not allow yourself to fall into depression. Search until you find some little good in you. For how could it be that you never did anything good in your whole life?

After heartbreak comes joy. Being happy later on is a true sign of having a broken heart.



THE TREASURE

A man from a certain town once dreamed that in Vienna , under a bridge, there lay buried treasure. He travel ed to Vienna and stood there by the bridge trying to think what to do. During the day it would be impossible to dig because of the people.

As he stood there, a soldier passed by and asked, “What are you standing thinking about?” The man thought it would be best to tell him the truth. Perhaps he would help him and they could share the proceeds. He told him the whole story.

“Jews only think about dreams!” cried the soldier. “I also had a dream, and in my dream I too saw a treasure. It was in a particular house belonging to a particular person.”

The soldier mentioned the very name of the man's city and the name of the man himself. “There in the cellar lies a great treasure, and I want to go there and take it.”

The man returned home, dug in his cellar and found the treasure.

“Now I know that the treasure is with me!” he said. “Except that to find out about it, I had to travel to Vienna .”

So it is in serving God. The treasure is inside each person. But to find out about the treasure, one must travel to the Tzaddik.

http://hamantaschen.blogspot.com/2006/10/der-schatz-unter-der-bruecke.html