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If a plant that thrives in temperate zones is placed under the tropical sun it doesn’t take long to die. If a creature that thrives in temperate zones is brought to the steaming tropics it will try to run away. Yet if a human that thrives in temperate zones finds itself in those tropical climes it will often force itself to adapt with a barrage of shoulds, oughts, musts, and air-conditioning.
Conflict may seem to be resolved in the mind but the body silently suffers. The evidence is visible all around: lethargy alcoholism substance-abuse obesity skin-cancer depression … and the root of all this suffering? The dragon – the one described so well by Joseph Campbell as the dragon whose every scale bears the dictum: THOU SHALT!
The secret sword that slays the dragon is the question: WHO SHALT?
Who is the one who must adapt? And who says so? Dragons are notoriously difficult to find, yet they dissolve in the mirror-light of Awareness. The conditioning that constructs them vaporizes. No ‘shalts’ survive. It’s all a matter of fearless eye-balling.
~
echoes from emptiness 
Contemplations on an unasked-for and unexpected relocation to tropical Queensland. It hardly needs mentioning that this body of mine hates extreme heat.
But I had a [karmic?] task, and what a privilege it was! In the end, the heat mattered little. Nevertheless, task completed, my body took me away from its intensity.
~ ml
So, it was a privilege after all!
To the the injunction ‘Thou shalt’, there are two possible answers: ‘Why?’ and ‘why not?’ .The motive, or rather where the answer comes from, is fundamental, as anyone will agree; is it a rebellion of the ego or an affirmation of the Self (or Ego)? This may seem all too obvious, but I always felt uneasy about that other injunction, by Joseph Campbell: “follow your bliss” (whose bliss, what type of bliss?). Somehow, in some of these pronouncements a tinge (a dab, or a blur) of New Age thinking may be revealing itself.
The New Age, and everything that goes with it, is inevitable, a fact, and who can say that it is altogether bad or an error?, but ego-centrism, feminism (an ideology), and other ‘isms’ are very much part of it. I am sure you will understand that I say this as a general comment, not meaning anyone in particular. And yes, I am also revealing thereby my own tastes and proclivities.
All tastes and proclivities are welcome here, dear AM! Whatever the degree of clarity about one’s ‘true’ identity, personal tendencies remain – no problem – they’re just part of Life’s repertoire.
For me the period in that cultural/climatic context was not due to some romantic fantasy about “life in a winterless paradise” “life on a beach” etc – which seemed to underpin the motivations of many folk who hadn’t factored in the basic boredom of such an imagined escape. Rather, it was an imperative; there was no argument. Maybe that’s what you mean by an “affirmation of the Self”?
It certainly wasn’t what wee-me would’ve chosen, and it definitely had nothing to do with “following my bliss”!!! In hindsight I’d say that Love was driving. Love had a job to do. Two precious souls would take their last breaths in my arms.
In spite of my discomfort – or maybe thanks to it – the chapter unfolded me in ways I could never have imagined, let alone contrived. Gratitude!
The ways of Grace are mysterious indeed. They might even show up disguised as New Age isms! Or dragons inviting eyeballing. Hmmmm.
🙂 ~ ml
Thank you for your words, ML; one cannot but be touched by some of what you say. Yes, ultimately it is Love what moves us (“what moves the sun and the other stars”, as expressed by Dante). Knowledge without love:nihil, nothing; the same goes for action, even if often unawares, often fumbling, or going in apparently wrong or contradictory ways. Love is undoubtedly present in our times, “the end-times” for many.
It is said that everything works for the better (“the ways of Grace”, you say), even as, often too, God writes straight with twisted letters (?). The twisted letters, or lines in the script, represent the pain, suffering, disillusion and ignorance – our faithfull companions. Ignorance, though, is not “terminal”, we know.
Curious the difference in itinerary beteen one life and another, due to different circumstances (time, life experiences, surroundings, genetic endowment, etc.). Yet we are all (seeming) participants – as if in a grand design…
Your words touch me deeply dear AM. Thank you.
I love that: “God writes straight with twisted letters.”
Since these notes were written the view from ‘here’ has continued to open and deepen. There’s not much I’d change, but perhaps I’d express differently these days. The passing of the years definitely helps untwist the letters … but finding that the ultimate and inescapable code-breaker is right under one’s nose … well, one can only laugh …
I am falling deeper and deeper into “the Love that moves us.” To speak of it makes me melt.
~ ml