“A master planted a garden, labored over it, arranged it, did everything so that the garden would produce as much fruit as possible. And he sent some workers into this garden, so that they would labor, gather fruit and, according to their agreement, pay him for use of the garden.
“The master is the father, the garden is the world, the workers are people. The father sent his son, the son of man, into the world so that people would give the father back the knowledge of life that he placed inside them.
“Time passed and the master sent one of his workers to collect the payment. The father had not ceased to tell the people that they were obligated to fulfill his will. The workers chased off the master’s messenger empty-handed and they continued to live, imagining that the garden was their own, that they themselves occupied it by their own grace. People have chased off the reminder of the father’s will and continue to live each for himself, imagining that they live for the joys of mortal life.
“Then the master sent to them again, this time sending some of his favorites and even his son to remind them about their debt. But the workers had become completely foolish and imagined to themselves that if they killed the master’s son, who had come to remind them that the garden was not theirs, then they would finally be left in peace. And so they killed him.
“People do not love to be reminded that there is a spirit that lives within them and that it is eternal, but that they are not eternal; and so they killed, as much as they could, the consciousness of that spirit. They wrapped the grivna they had been given in a handkerchief and buried it in the ground.
“What could the master do? Nothing but drive out those workers and send in others. What can the father do? Keep planting until fruit is produced. And this very thing is what he does. People have not understood and still do not understand that this consciousness of the spirit within them, a consciousness they suppress since it inhibits them, is actually the essence of their lives. They discard the rock on which everything rests.
“And those who do not take the life of the spirit as a foundation will not enter into the kingdom of heaven and will not receive life. In order to have faith and receive life, one must understand one’s condition, and not wait for a reward.”
Then the students said to Jesus, “Multiply our faith within us; tell us something that will make us believe in the life of the spirit more strongly and not long for mortal life. Look how much we must give, we must give away everything for the life of the spirit. And you say yourself that there is no reward.”
And at this, Jesus told them, “If you could have the same faith as your assurance that a giant tree will grow from a birch seed, if you could believe similarly that within you is the single embryo of the spirit, from which true life will develop, you would not need to ask me to multiply your faith within you. Faith does not consist of believing in something amazing, faith consists of understanding your own condition and understanding where you can turn for salvation. If you understand your own condition, then you won’t wait for any rewards. You will believe in what has already been entrusted to you.
“When the master returns from the field with his worker, then of course he does not immediately sit his worker down to the table. But he commands him to gather the livestock and prepare him some dinner and only then does he say to the worker, ‘Sit down, drink and eat.’ The master does not think to thank the worker for doing what he was supposed to do. And the worker, if he understands that he is a worker, is not offended, but works, believing that he will receive what he deserves.
“Likewise, you should fulfill the will of the father and work from the premise that we are worthless workers, that we are only doing what we are obligated to do, and do not expect rewards, being satisfied that you receive what you deserve. You do not need to worry about this in order to have faith that there will be a reward and that there will be life; it cannot be otherwise. You must worry that you do not destroy this life and you must not forget that it was given to us so that we bear its fruits and fulfill the father’s will.
“Therefore always be prepared, like servants waiting for the master, to immediately, as soon as he arrives, open the gate for him. The servants do not know when he is to return, whether it will be early or late, so they should always be prepared. And if they greet the master, then they have fulfilled his will, and that is good for them. The same is true in life. Always, in every minute of the present you must live the life of the spirit, not thinking about the past or the future and not saying to yourself, ‘Only then or there will I do this or that.’
“If the master knew that a thief was coming, then he would not sleep. Likewise, you must never sleep, because the life of the son of man is without time, he lives only in the present and does not know when the beginning and the end of his life are.
“Our life is the same as the life of a slave whom the master has left in the position of seniority at his home. It is good for that slave if he always does the will of the master. But if he says, ‘The master will not be coming soon,’ and forgets to do the master’s business, then the master will return by surprise and will throw him out.
“And so, do not despair, but always live by the spirit in the present. Time does not exist for the life of the spirit. Look after yourself so that you do not become bitter and do not grow dim with drunkenness, gluttony, or worries, so that you do not miss the time of salvation. The time of salvation, like a net, is cast over all people; it is always present. And therefore, above all else, live the life of the son of man.
“The kingdom of heaven is similar to this: Ten virgins with lamps went to meet the groom. Five were smart and five were stupid. The stupid ones took their lamps but did not take any oil. But the smart ones took their lamps and some oil in reserve. While they waited for the groom, they began to doze off.
“When the groom approached, the stupid ones saw that they had only a little oil remaining. And they went to look for a place to buy oil, but while they were out, the groom arrived. And the smart virgins, who had oil, entered with him and the doors closed behind them.
“The virgins had needed to go and meet the groom with their lamps, only for this purpose. But they forgot that it was not just important that the lamps burn but that they burned at the right time. And in order for them to burn at the right time, they needed to be burning constantly. Life exists only to elevate the son of man, and the son of man is always present. He is outside of time, and therefore, when serving him, you must live outside of time, strictly in the present. Therefore, make your efforts in the present, in order to enter into the life of the spirit. If you do not make the effort, you will not enter. You will say, ‘We said this and that,’ but there will be no good deeds and there will be an incomplete life. Because the son of man, like the one spirit, appears for each person according to how he served him.
“All people can be divided according to how they serve the son of man. By their actions they can be divided into two groups, just as the sheep and goats are in the flocks. Some will remain living and others will perish. Those who serve the son of man are the ones that will receive what has belonged to them from the beginning of the world, the life that they preserved. They preserved this life by serving the son of man. They nourished the hungry, dressed the naked, took in the traveler, visited the imprisoned. They lived by the son of man, they sensed that he was one in all people and therefore they loved him. But those who did not live by the son of man did not serve him, did not understand that he was one in all people and therefore they did not unite with him, so they lost the life he gave them and perished.”
Chapter Nine TEMPTATIONS