Wisdom Stories: Meditations on Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends

by Robert M. Hoffstein

Little children hear about these timeless tales while sitting on the laps of their bonpapas, and wizened old men study them in the Qabbalah. They are told in so many ways because it is important to be exposed to them whether we be seven or seventy. The cow that jumped over the moon for my son, age 3, becomes the quantum jump for my son the physicist, age 33. My contention is that both concepts stem from the same Mind, and if it weren't for the inspiration provided by that incredible cow chances are there would be no quantum jump either. One of the first steps to be taken to break the code of these transformation stories is to become part of the act. Step inside the book, close the cover on yourself and simmer overnight with Rumpelstilzchen, Red Ridinghood, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Essau, Puss and Boots, Cinderella, Christ and Judas Iscariot. For they are, in truth, members of your extended family. These stories are really a form of food, and just to read them is to be nourished. To see connections between them is to add to the nourishment, and to relate them to your own spiritual transformation is beneficial in an immeasurable way. Anything but arbitrary, they are actually teaching devices to help you understand your own predicament, the crisis you face in your development. To the extent that you become conscious of this crisis, to that extent can you begin the process of transformation. If the moon is too high, and you do not consider yourself in the same class as the cow then try a candlestick. Jack did manage to jump over it, but almost missed, as it was the most difficult jump he had ever attempted. It is the jump of transformation. Indulge yourself in these stories. Do what the king did to the miller's daughter. Gather together all the straw you can find and heap it up to the ceiling in your inner sanctuary. Then give yourself until dawn to transform it into gold - upon the pain of death!

199 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1992