A follower of the great mystic, Rabbi Meir of Premishlan, once complained to him about a man who moved into town and started a business that competed with his. “He is diminishing my income !” cried the man. “What should I do?”
Rabbi Meir asked, “Do you own a horse?” The man replied that he does. The mystic then asked, “Did you ever notice what your horse does when you take him to the river for a drink?” The man replied that the horse begins kicking at the earth under the water with his hooves until the water is well-muddied and only then does he begin to drink. Why does the horse act this way?” asked the mystic. “I don’t know,” was the man’s reply.
“I”ll tell you why,” said Rabbi Meir.
“When the horse sees his reflection in the water he sees another horse. He fears that this horse will drink all the water. So he muddies the water until the ‘other horse’ goes away. What the horse is unable to understand is that G-d has created enough water for all the horses.”
So, the mystic concluded, “Are you like your horse or do you understand that G-d made enough ‘water’ for everyone?”
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