The Vessel

The people who received this vase to care for, did not know anything about caring for a vessel from a Master. They were
very busy and they didn't have time to polish it and keep it cleaned out. But they did make sure that the vase was always kept in a place where it would not get broken.

Through the years, the people carelessly put bits of trash in the vase. Just little bits of refuse. They didn't think it was anything that would hurt the little vase. They just didn't have time to worry about keeping it clean.

When the vase was older, she was so used to having debris in her, that she welcomed other people to place their trash in her. She felt that it was her duty to allow this. She saw herself as a trash receptacle. She did not know that she was a beautiful creation by the Master.

After many years of being filled with more and more bits of trash, the little vase felt clogged and it was painful to be so
full. She still did not know that she could be cleaned and shined. One by one she began to meet people who told her she was a vase. She loved that they thought so, but she didn't accept it to be true. After many people told her this, she wondered if it could be true.

She read books on the care of vases. As she learned new techniques, she tried them. She started out just by trying to
imagine herself as a vase instead of a trash can. It was very hard to do on her own so she sought out people who were
experienced with crystal things. From the books and the people, she learned to not allow people to put their garbage in her.

She learned to say "I'm not a trash receptacle. You must find another place to put that."

This wasn't very difficult to do. It seemed that when she said these words to people, that they accepted that she was a vase, and they didn't try to put refuse in there any more. So, she thought it would be nice if she could empty some of the trash.

This was more difficult. She tried to get it out by herself, but soon found that to be a very painful experience as well as futile. She searched for someone to help her. She met a brilliant container one day that sparkled with clarity and she asked how she came to sparkle. The sparkling vessel introduced the little vase to a radiant vase that had experience in cleaning out cluttered vessels. Through these two containers, the little vase found that there are many, many beautiful vessels of all shapes and sizes that had all thought of themselves as trash cans at one time. Together they had learned how to go to the Master and learn how to return to their original condition and purpose.

This little vase was so excited! She started to imagine how beautiful she could become if she could learn to empty herself. The group of vases gave her tools to remove the debris. She had never seen or used such tools. Ardently, she learned what each tool was and how it could be applied to her problem. She extracted first one piece of trash and then another.

Soon she saw a new vessel when she looked at herself. She cleaned away the dust and polished until the beauty of the
grooves and cuts in the crystal could be seen She had extracted enough of the bits of trash filling her that it wasn't nearly as full as it had been.

As the vase became more empty, she realized that there had been an empty spot in the center of her vase all along. Even while she believed she was a trashcan, she had a sensed that a part of her was empty. She felt compelled to fill this void. As she became willing to allow it to be filled, she came to know that she was more than a vase. She was a lamp! Her intended purpose was to allow a beautiful Light to shine from within her.

Enthusiastically, she to dug out more and more of the bits in her to make room for the Light. She knew it would take a long, long time. She was satisfied with this. Her life was so much better being a lamp than it was when she thought she was a trash can. She spent the rest of her days slowly and gently emptying herself and making room for more and more Light.

She hoped that when her life was over that she would be a clear, crystal lamp that held nothing inside but a brilliant Light.

She aspired to be near her original condition, so that when people saw her lamp that they would not see the vessel, but that her etchings and prisms would merely enhance the Light inside so that people would be drawn to it.