The Stories We Tell

Lenda Brasileira da
Origem do Rio Amazonas  

Onça

Há muitos anos, existia na selva amazônica dois noivos apaixonados 
que sonhavam ser um casal. Ela vestia-se de prata e seu nome era Lua. 
Ele vestia-se de ouro e o seu nome era Sol. Lua era a dona da noite 
e Sol era dono do dia.
Havia porém, um obstáculo para aquele namoro: se eles se casassem 
o mundo se acabaria. O ardente amor de sol queimaria a terra toda 
e o choro triste da Lua toda a terra afogaria.

Apesar de apaixonados, como poderiam se casar? 
A Lua apagaria o fogo? O Sol faria toda a água evaporar?

Assim, eles se separaram. Eles nunca puderam se casar. 
Os noivos ficaram desesperados, a Lua de prata e o Sol de ouro.

No desespero da saudade, a Lua chorou durante todo um dia 
e toda uma noite. Suas lágrimas escorreram por morros sem 
fim até chegar ao mar. Mas o mar, com tanta água embraveceu-se, 
ele não queria aceitar tanta água.

A sofrida lua não conseguia misturar suas lágrimas às águas bravas
do mar. Algo estranho aconteceu. As águas escavaram um imenso vale, 
serras se levantaram. Um imenso rio apareceu. As lágrimas da lua 
formaram o rio Amazonas, o rio-mar da Amazônia.

Amazon Jungle

Roughly translated: 

"Once upon a time, a long time ago, there were two lovers. One dressed in silver called the moon. The other dressed in gold called the sun. The moon ruled the night while the sun ruled they day. They had a great love for each other but faced a terrible obstacle that kept them from marrying. If together, the moon would extinguish the fire and the sun would evaporate the water.  Thus they had to remain separate.  The moon in her sorrow cried and cried all day and night. Her tears flowed until they reached the sea and thus the Amazon was born."

Some things are just not meant to be. Some love is best when it it unrequited, unfulfilled...  its legend lives long and is the stuff of song, art,  and poetry.  A wise old Brazilian woman once told me, "It is not from our joys that great art is born, it is from seeing it contrasted against our greatest sorrows."   Use that to inspire yourself to great things but know that separateness is an illusion - even down to the subatomic level. Physical separation exists, spiritual does not.

That separateness we all feel... the desire and hunger to be touched, loved, admired... to be part of something that is larger than ourselves... that illusion of our separateness from God. We all share a piece of God whether we are brown, white, black, christian, hindu, jewish, French, American, Chinese, straight, gay, transgendered, Geminian, Martian...  What a huge legend of divisiveness it is to say God has been made into "a distinct, separate entity to which we must worship, humor, and please  - all in the hopes to get a reward at the end of life" or avoid the fires of hell. "This is not what God is. That is blasphemy."  Shame on you that try to keep us separate.  

"God must be greater than the greatest of human 
weaknesses and, indeed, the greatest of human skill. God 
must even transcend our most remarkable-to emulate 
nature in its absolute splendor. How can any man or 
woman sin against such greatness of mind? How can one 
little carbon unit on Earth-in the backwaters of the Milky 
Way, the boondocks-betray God almighty? That is 
impossible. The height of arrogance is the height of 
control of those who create God in their own image." 
-Ramtha