As yet the
world has not had the least taste of me. Were they only to hear one of my
lessons with its true melody and dance, they would pass into a state of complete
surrender. I mean the whole world – even the animals and plants! Everything in
existence would be nullified. Their very souls would expire from overwhelming
delight.
Think of
the power of music and dance. Someone who truly understands music can play
melodies that spring from its very essence and have the power to draw the very
soul of the listener after their every nuance. The listener becomes totally
subordinate to the melody, surrendering himself to its drawing power. The
melody penetrates and arouses him, drawing him along with it.
This is
even more so with dance. A real dancer can dance in such a way that his body
expresses every subtle shade of the music he is dancing to. Every limb of his
body moves in perfect unison with the music. Sometimes the music calls for a
movement of the head, the legs or the arms. It may call for the dancer to bend
down or swing around. The movements of the body must be in perfect harmony with
the music.
Now think
of a melody with words. In a perfect song, the words are connected to the
melody in every detail. The song expresses in words exactly what the music
expresses through the beauty of the melody. Now add the element of dance: the
dance expresses in terms of bodily movement what the words and music express in
their terms. Everything works in complete harmony.
When the
words, melody and dance are all interrelated and interwoven in perfect unity,
anyone who experiences them will be so overwhelmed with delight that his soul
will literally expire and he will fall into a state of complete surrender. This
is the greatest of all pleasures. Anyone who hasn’t tasted this knows nothing
of pleasure.
Those present
when such a player sings and dances are powerless: they simply expire with
yearning and delight. The closer a person is to the melody and dance and the
deeper his understanding, the more the movements of the music and dance will
come naturally because of the drawing power of the delight they cause. His
pleasure at the music and dance draws him in and takes over. He quite
spontaneously starts moving, singing and dancing.
Likewise,
the closer someone is to my teachings, the more natural and easy will the
movements of their holy song and dance become.
Happy is
the eye that sees this, for even in the next world, not everyone will be worthy
of hearing and seeing this. “Only those who labor on the eve of Shabbat will
eat on Shabbat.”
Chayey Moharan #340
Taken from The Essential Rabbi Nachman, Azamra Institute.
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