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The Sculptor

One day, a famous sculptor, whose works were admired by many, came to visit the Master.

He told the Master:

“You probably do not remember me. We met only once, when I was still a teenager. But your words have changed my entire life. And I remember that conversation of ours verbatim.

“I consider myself to be your pupil, and I dream of learning from you in the future. It was you who taught me the basics of mastery in my work, even though I later learned from many sculptors.

“And the sculptor showed the Master a fragment of a vessel — a small shard:

‘I’ve kept this thing ever since!’

“But I’ve never taught anyone how to sculpt,” — the Master said with a kind smile.

… Then the sculptor told the Master and His interested disciples, who had gathered around, a story from his life:

“Since childhood, I’ve longed for God. During the great religious holidays in the region where I lived, people would bring their gifts to the temples. We lived very poorly, but I, a child, wanted to do something for God too!

“And so, I brought a cup to the temple, which I had made out of clay by myself. This creation of mine was very imperfect. But I tried so hard! I tried to put all my love for God into my work! I wanted nothing more than for my gift to also be pleasant to Him!…

“Back then, I still did not understand that God does not need material gifts! And I dreamed that my cup would be accepted by the minister of the temple.

“But that minister refused to accept my gift. Moreover, he ridiculed me, saying:

‘Do not insult the temple and God with your pathetic offering! Do you really think that this worthless creation might be interesting to anyone? You insulted God and us, the clergymen, with such a ‘gift’! Do you really think that God could like this?’

“And with these words, he threw the cup onto the floor, shattering it into pieces, and then he angrily began to trample them with his feet.

‘Get that garbage out of here!’ — he shouted at me.

“… I collected the fragments and walked away…

“It felt like he had trampled all my love, and had trampled me as a soul, destroying all the best in me…

“I walked with my head down and could not hold back my tears…

“All the people in the square in front of the temple were busy having fun… But it seemed to me that I was banished, punished, and forever deprived of hope… As if the tender sprout of everything good in me was rudely and cruelly broken…

“Suddenly you appeared nearby, Master. You told me then:

“Don’t be sad! Of all the gifts that were brought to the temple today, your cup was most liked by the Divine Teacher, to Whom this temple is dedicated! And He poured Light into it — and drank from it. And He also offered Those, Who know the essence of truly Holy Gifts, to drink from it too.”

“How do you know this?” — I asked.

“You answered:

‘I was there, and I saw it. And I also drank from your cup.’

“How is this possible? That cup was broken into small pieces?!”

“In the non-material worlds, where the Light and Compassion reign supreme, it is impossible to destroy that which has been created with love. Even imperfect verses and prayer songs can be heard there, if they are uttered with a pure heart filled with reverence and love.

“For God, what is most important, is the state of the soul in which the gift is created. After all, there are no material objects in that world! Only non-material images can be manifested there in the Light — on the approaches to the Depths, in which there is no division into names and forms.

“But, if someone wants other embodied people to be happy from using the beauty of human creations, then it makes sense to master the corresponding direction of art. The more perfect is what was done, the more joy and benefit it will bring to people!

“God is the Supreme Perfect Consciousness. He consists of a Multitude of Souls, Who have reached the corresponding level of Perfection — and therefore have merged in the Oneness with Him.

“And the entire Creation exists just to give people and other beings the opportunity to improve themselves and to learn the Perfection.”

“… Oh, how important it was for me to hear this! It was like a life-giving balm that healed a wounded soul!

“We walked around the market for a long time, looking at the beautiful qualities in the creations of the artisans and talking about beauty and harmony in objects and in souls.

“You told me then that my cup was beautiful precisely because of the love with which I did it, but that its appearance was far from perfect.

“However, there is an opportunity to also make the material aspect beautiful. It must be done so that harmony and grace delight the eyes and so that the love, with which the thing has been made, nourishes souls.

“We then approached the market square, and you bought some delicious pies.

“Oh! I will remember all of this forever: Your wisdom, Your kindness, and even the taste of those pies…

“You then said:

‘The woman, who baked this food, did it with love. She used both good flour and fine apples for the filling, and her ability to bake on a fire was equally good. It tasted wonderful! And in this food, there is good for both the body and the soul. After all, the particles of the love energy of that woman also filled us, when we ate her products.

‘But her love alone would not have been enough for us if, for example, the apples were not tasty, or if the flour was rancid, or if the pies were raw or burnt. Right?

‘So, even in the seemingly simple ability of cooking food, there is room for perfecting this art. Similarly, in any work that brings good to others, you can strive to achieve more and more excellent results. In this case, the creator of each work should consider it in a multifaceted way, looking at it from different angles.

‘By serving other people with one’s own work, helping them in everything good, one perfects oneself — as a soul.

‘Then, this perfection can be continued with the help of special meditative techniques, but you will find out about this later.

‘Yes, it’s good when people are surrounded by beautiful things, when they have nutritious food, and when clothes and homes are clean and beautiful!

‘But, most important, are the beauty and perfection of souls! It is our main work for God, which we can do every single day of our lives!

‘Each of our actions can bring harmony, beauty, kindness, love, and peace to the world! They can be done with both words and deeds, and even with kind thoughts and emotions. Through this, souls become more perfect and help others, who live around, to also improve.

‘Look how beautiful these flowers, birds, grasses, and trees are! These are perfect creations of God!

‘But… here is a trunk of a living tree that was mutilated by an axe… And here is a bouquet of flowers that was thrown to the ground… These flowers died before their time — instead of producing seeds and giving life to other beings as beautiful as they are…

‘… It makes sense to improve ourselves in everything good, in all that we do, and in everything that we give to the world, including to all the kind beings around us.

‘Through this, we ourselves — as souls — also become more and more perfect — thereby approaching the Perfection of our Creator!

‘Any work that is done for the good of people and other kind creatures can help both ourselves and others in the development of the beauty and perfection of the soul!

‘Namely, this is the main task for which we all are on the Earth!

‘After life here, in the material world, — we pass on to a life without our bodies, which are left behind. There, as if being naked — before God — of all outer covers, we give a summary of who we were during the time of our schooling in this school of life here!”

“… Ever since that day, I have striven to fulfill what I heard from You, — in my life. This has allowed me to work with great inspiration! I have also tried to teach my young students the same.

“But I remembered that You did not tell me everything else that time. So, now I again ask You to teach me how to approach the Divine Perfection!”

“Well, I’ll be happy to help you to take the next steps on your Path!” — the Master answered joyfully.