If we found ourselves in a land of dragons, what should we do?
Question everything
Are the dragons real, myth, legend or rumor?
Are there dragon sightings?
Is there a personal sighting?
Is there a dragon outside your window?
Is this a Fearsome Deiti?
Remember the Fearsome Deities?
They exist in the temporal world but have no real authority within it, beyond fear. Their only purpose is to evoke fear, that’s why they’re fearsome. Tibetans understand this very well, (the power of fear) and its role in the cycle of life and death.
Some take these images very seriously, none more so than the dragon (except maybe quicksand) and none is more fearsome than a deity of many faces - of which the dragon is one. So, in any case the dragon must be taken seriously.
When in a land of dragons, it’s best to know what we’re dealing with; waiting for the dragon to appear is not just a poor strategy, it’s an invitation to disaster. Although the dragon’s image invokes fear, its embodiment is a representation of humanities many pathos. Sometimes the threat is real.
A frightened animal will often run directly to the danger, (people do the same) because the body follows the eyes. Evasion is a learned response; it must be put to practice. Objective hazard is just that - objective - it gives no consideration for our safety and security, nothing that survives does it by accident. Everything that lives does so from a single prime directive.
In a land of dragons, the dragon sometimes appears as benevolent, the center of creativity and celebration. Sometimes the dragon appears as the instrument of destruction. In all cases the dragon demands to be taken seriously.
All other options are fraught with hazard: it’s only an image, it’s only a dollar, it’s only a flag, it’s only a piece of paper.
We are born with built in defense, a normal, natural thing. There is nothing to fear from the dragon’s image, though, it should be questioned about what is lurking behind it - likely another fearsome deity.
