Sulia

Parable about the Master

        There was a Master on the Earth. He lived in Unity with God. And people gathered around Him.
        He taught those who aspired sincerely to learn about the Truth.
        But others only questioned Him idly, without getting any benefit for the soul…
        There were lots of people who gathered around Him and asked Him questions:
        “How can we be sure that You are a True Teacher, that Your Doctrine is a true one, and that You are better than others who teach and speak differently?
        “Some of them teach us that one should take off a cap before entering a temple, others teach that one should keep it on…
        “And there are so many various Gods and doctrines! And every follower claims that only his or her faith is true and that those who worship another God and have another way of worship are sinners!
        “How can we sort it out? And in what should we believe?
        “And what will we get if we worship Your God?”
        The Master answered:
        “There is God! And He is One for all! His names are Love, Life, and Existence! He is the Creator of everything! He gives birth to all existence, creating it by His Power!
        “His names are different because in different languages people praise Him.
        “But the knowledge about Him that exists among people is quite incomplete. Many ‘teachings’ or ‘teachers’, having taken a minute part of the Whole, try to say about God only what they know. And what they do not know they declare non-existent.
        “Let us blindfold three men who never have seen an elephant, and let them touch it.”
        And the Master blindfolded three men. One of them touched the tail of the elephant, another touched the elephant’s leg, and the third one touched the elephant’s trunk. And each of them described how he felt the elephant. But their descriptions were… completely different, although the elephant was one and the same!
        Nevertheless, people continued asking questions:
        “What is God? Where is He? In which temple should we look for Him? In what should we believe, how should we pray, and what sacrifices should we offer to God?”
        In reply the Master repeated simple words that were said from century to century by other Masters. He repeated them so that people could hear and understand:
        “God is Love! He teaches how to love and not how to beg or beseech!
        “He demands for Himself neither worship, nor prayers, nor sacrifices!
        “He only gives. He gives life and love! And all existence is controlled by Him!
        “Henceforth, let every spiritual heart become a temple for cognition of Him! Everyone can transform one’s own heart into a beautiful temple filled with love and gratitude! This temple will grow year after year and become boundless with time, because love has no bounds! It grows and expands, being aware more and more of its own presence in all that it loves!”
        And if you need to say words, just say: “I love You, Father!” or “I thank You!”
 

* * *

        Then disciples asked the Master about gratitude to God.
        The Master answered:
        “The easiest commandment, which every person can keep, is the commandment of gratitude. Whatever you receive, express gratitude for it! And do good in response! Then your lives, souls, and destinies will change with time!
        “A person who is able to be grateful for everything sent to him or her by God acquires three virtues at once: love, humility and patience. And the one who always aspires to fulfill this — lives and grows in God’s Love!
        “And there is no reason for grief since everything created by the Father is beautiful!
        “Always thank God for everything!”
        “And how should those whose lives are full of suffering act? Do You really want to say that they should thank the Father for their punishment?” — a disciple asked the Master.
        The Master answered:
        “Suffering can purify the soul and take off the burden of past sins if one repents in a reasonable way! So, we should thank the Creator for suffering as well!
        “It is necessary to remember this, especially when bad events and troubles come into your lives!
        “We ourselves cause these troubles! It is not God Who punishes us, but it is our past bad acts that create our problems! And God, on the contrary, helps us to purify our destinies when evil that we caused to others returns to us.
        “Yesterday I lanced an abscess on your body. The pain that I caused to you was for your good. I caused it to heal your body. And you thanked Me for healing! Are you not surprised that you thanked Me for that pain? You knew that it was for good, for healing of your body, that is why you thanked Me.
        “Let us be able to accept pain from the Principal Healer of all souls with gratitude!
         “Having come to the Earth, we have to pay the debt of our vicious past. And we will live in good, only if we are not in debt to anyone!”
        “But with what can we pay the debts of the soul?” — that disciple asked.
        “With love!
        “There are three very simple precepts: Love! Give thanks! The one who always aspires to fulfill these precepts lives and grows in Love of the Creator! And love is capable of overcoming all the problems of life!
        “If we always live thanking and giving, we wash away our bad past with our love!”
 

* * *

        The disciples asked the Master:
        “Some doctrines assert that man is Divine, others claim that man is nothing but ashes, an accumulation of sins. In what should we believe?”
        The Master picked up a seed from the earth, put it on His palm, showed it to the disciples, and said:
        “Here is a seed from a tree. Some could say: it will become a tree. Others could say: it is just a speck of dust carried by the wind. Who is right?
        “A seed has everything to become a tree! But until it germinates, roots itself, and transforms its entire being from a sprout into a tree, from a possibility of existence into existence — till then it will remain just a speck of dust carried by the wind…
        “It is the same with man. He or she can become Divine not only because that person has seeds of Divinity inside, but because Divine Love has rooted in him or her, has grown, and has become a Tree, transforming the entire nature of that person!
        “A seed can grow transforming itself into a tree. And man, too, can grow transforming oneself into God! Everyone has this great possibility!
        “But this is just a possibility!”
 

* * *

        Once new disciples asked the Master:
        “How can we verify that by following Your Teachings we will cognize the Truth? And why should we believe Your words?”
         The Master answered:
        “Here is honey from honeycombs. It is sweet. But no matter how much I speak to you about its sweetness, and no matter how firmly you believe My words, this will be of no use to you! Yet you will get to know that it is sweet only when you taste it!
        “It is the same with Knowledge! You will not get much benefit if you believe Me or someone else blindly, or if you worship a book, which contains Knowledge, instead of worshiping God!
        “You should trust your experience! And words will remain words…
        “Let’s imagine a person sitting in a dark room. No matter how strongly this person believes in the existence of light, this cannot make the room lighter.
        “But if that person, having understood that light exists, starts to act, he or she might be able to light fire for oneself, as someone lights a candle in darkness. And then this person might be able to see a door in the room and leave it.
        “Only the one who searches and goes will find a passageway! And only that person will open the door to the boundlessness of Light!”
        “But yesterday You told us that faith would save us. And today you are saying that there is no need to believe. How should we understand You?”
        “I was talking about that faith which combines love for the Creator, confidence in Him, and the memory that He is always near you!
        “When you know that the loving and caring Father is always here with you and with everyone, and that He gives you everything you need, and you thank Him for this — this is faith!
        “By His Love, Wisdom, and Power everything is created! And everything is under His control! And if something goes not as you want it to, there is a significant reason for this.
        “Knowledge is a fruit of love and faith. It grows when you make efforts and act properly!
        “If you do not see that there is Light and yet you want to acquire the higher vision, you should believe and work! Faith is a support on this Path! Because if you do not believe that there is Light, you will not be able to cast off your chains and leave darkness!
        “But if you believe blindly, faith will not heal you. Only through hard work on yourself as a soul, will you be able to transform darkness into Light!
        “Without faith you can’t stand firmly on this Path! Yet in order to gain Wisdom, you should pass from faith to Knowledge!
        “And only after having walked the entire Path, will you be able to cognize the Truth! The one who has cognized the Light of the Creator will not doubt or be afraid anymore! That person will make efforts to become this Light and to learn to dissolve oneself in It!
        “But the one who can only doubt and fear should wait. It is not the right time for him or her to go on a journey!
        “Later I will narrate how I traversed this Path, what I found, and how I came to the Unity. And the one who aspires and is ready to make efforts can try to pass after Me!
        “There is Purpose!
        “There is the Path!
        “There is Truth!
        “There is Light on the Path!
        “Yet everyone should go by oneself to come to Unity with God!”