The Parable of the Nightmares

1What, then, did he want them to think about themselves? He wanted them to think, “I have come into being like the shadows and phantoms of the night.” When the light shines on the terror they received, they know that it is nothing. In this way, they were ignorant of the Father, whom they did not see. Since there was terror, disturbance, instability, doubt, and division, many illusions were at work among them, together with vain ignorance. It was as though they were deep in sleep and found themselves in nightmares. Either they are running somewhere, or they are unable to run away from someone; or they are fighting, or being beaten; or they have fallen from heights, or are flying through the air without wings. Sometimes, too, it is as though someone is killing them, even though no one is chasing them; or they themselves are killing those around them and are covered in their blood. Until those who are going through all these nightmares can wake up, they see nothing, because these things are nothing.

2That is how it is with those who have cast off ignorance like sleep. They do not regard it as anything, nor do they regard its other works as real, but they abandon them like a dream in the night. They value the knowledge of the Father as they value the light. The ignorant have acted as though they were asleep; those who have come to knowledge have acted as though they had awakened. It is good for the one who returns and awakens! Blessed is the one who has opened the eyes of those who cannot see! The Holy Spirit hurried after them to revive them. It gave a hand to the one lying on the ground and set that person on their feet, because they had not yet risen. It gave them the knowledge of the Father and the revelation of the Son, because when they saw him and heard him, he allowed them to taste him and to grasp the beloved Son.