A good man had a vineyard that he arranged for tenant farmers to take care of for him in return for a portion of the produce. He sent a servant to collect the grapes. Tenants seized the servant and beat him nearly to death. That servant reported back to his master, but his master responded, "Perhaps they did not recognize him." And so he sent another servant; the tenants beat him too. Then the owner sent his own son, saying, "Perhaps they will show some respect for my son." Sine the tenants were aware that he would inherit the vineyard, they seized him and then killed him. He who has ears, let him hear. Saying 65, The Gospel of Thomas.
We live on the plane of the horizontal and ignore the vertical. We are dirt and water walking round, forgetting that we did not make ourselves, wishing to claim it all. The vertical descends from above and ascends from below to claim its portion. We kill that part of our soul. We keep killing it every time it makes its appearance. This is spiritual suicide. We are tenant farmers and the rent will come due. Though we kill the urges of the spirit within us, the owner of the vineyard will have the last say.
We live on the plane of the horizontal and ignore the vertical. We are dirt and water walking round, forgetting that we did not make ourselves, wishing to claim it all. The vertical descends from above and ascends from below to claim its portion. We kill that part of our soul. We keep killing it every time it makes its appearance. This is spiritual suicide. We are tenant farmers and the rent will come due. Though we kill the urges of the spirit within us, the owner of the vineyard will have the last say.
I had never thought of this saying in this light before, but it makes perfect sense. Fighting against the inevitable is a natural reaction when we are unaware, but once awake we recognize that we must embrace each moment as it unfolds; relentless in our love for the owner and its ways.
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