Re: a Legend

[Guest guest]

I decided to add my own story to the others ( I love the one below,

Mike)

This is not " mine " It belongs to the people.

It is the legend of the 'Lamed-Vov

" According to the ancient Jewish tradition of the Lamed-Vov,there are

at all times thirty-six hidden Just Men, thirty-six saints upon whom the

continued existence of the world depends. When one dies another takes

his place. The Lamed-Vov are indistinquishable from other human beings,

except in the heartbreaking depth of their caring. And only so long as

the Just Men exist, only so long will G-d allow the world of ordinary

men to exist. So inconsolable are the Just Men in their anguish about

human suffering, that even G-d Himself cannot comfort them. So it is,

that as an act of mercy towards them; " from time to time the Creator

blessed be His Name, sets forward the clock of the Last Judgment by one minute.

Schwarz-Bart ' The Lasy of the Just "

The story is told of a young boy whose aging grandfather informs him

that the last Just Man has died without designating a successor. The boy

was to take his place as one of the Lamed-Vov He. can soon expect to

attain the glow that is the aura of his coming ascendency. The boy is

awed, but he is bewildered as to what he should do in this life as a

Just Man. The old man assures him that he need be himself, that he need

" do " anything to fulfill his destiny. In the meanwhile he need only to

continue to be a good little boy.

But the child worries about his role, becoming obessesed with the

idea that if he learns how to be a Just Man, pehaps G-d will be

satisfied and spare his aging grandfather from dying. He fantasized the

grand self tortures and self sacrifice that may be required of him.

Will he have to be dragged along the rough ground clinging to the tail

of a Mogol pony, or would it be of greater merit if he were to be

consumed by purifying flames while being burned at the stake?

He is terrified, but ready to do whatever is required of him. He

decides to work his way up, begining by holding his breathas long as he

can. When this does not seem to be enough, he holds a match to his hand,

burning his palm to a painfully satisying stigmatic char. His

grandfather is deeply upset and yet touched when he learns that the boy

has been training himself to die in order to save the old man's life. He

teaches the boy the nature of his monsterous error by explaining that a

Just Man, he will not be able to change anything. He will save no one. A

Just Man need not pursue suffering. It will be there in the world for

him as it is for each man. He need only be open to the suffering of

others , knowing that he cannot change it. Without being able to save

his brothers, he must let himself experience their pain, so that they

need not suffer alone. This will change nothing for man, but will make a

difference to

God.

The boy wanders off trying to understand, but not seeing the sense

or the worth of it all. His epiphany comes later that day when he

catches a fly whose life he holds in the hollow of his hand. He knows a

sudden sympathy for the terror and the trembling of the fly. The fly's

anguish is suddenly his own as well. Releasing the fly from his

trembling hand, he suddenly feels the glow of becoming one of the

Lamed-Vov. He has become one of the Just Men. Love is more than simply

being open to experiencing the anguish of another person's suffering. It

is the willingness to live with the helpless knowing that we can do

nothing to save the other pain. "

From Kopp, " If you Meet the Buddha on the Road Kill Him "

Toni

cloudhand@... wrote:

> There's an interesting story told in Tantric Buddhismm