Dragons in America

In union we rise up and just as St. George did, we face the dragons.

There are over 100 dragons worldwide listed in Wikipedia of legends and folklore. The tales, rich and varied, are worth your time. You can visit Wikipedia for the list and the history of dragons. I doubt there is a country that does not have their own dragon. Here are some of the names. They have wonderful stories and so many wonderful images of dragons. Some of the names:

Druk, Dragon, Peluda, Wyvern, Lindworm, Agathodaemon, Zomok, Coca, Zilant, Illuyanka, Marduk, Mušḫuššu, Zahhak, Nāga, Mahoraga, Vritra, Pakhangba, Neak, Olimaw, Kanlaon dragon, Hai-Riyo, Uwabami, Han Long, Yilbegän, Kihawahine, Piasa Bird, Thevetat, Snallygaster, Teju Jagua, Amaru, Coi Coi-Vilu,

and now the American MAGA dragon.

A lot of the stories are about dangerous and destructive dragons. This is more common in Western cultures. Asian countries have assimilated the dragon into their culture and religious symbolism. For example, in Buddhism dragons are protectors. They are called Nagas. Nagas also can cause people to wake up from their delusions.

In America we have allowed fearsome dragons to be let loose. They are crashing around demolishing our cherished structures of decency, common sense and respect for the law. These dragons despise Democracies. They are known for their ability to weave illusions, lies and deceptions. Their scales of misogyny, racism and ageism fall all around them as they thunder and bellow across the land. They breathe the fire of hatred. Cruelty is their daily diet. They are shape shifters. Some people see them as patriotism. Others see them as a gun and their god. Still others are sure they are their justice and their rule of law.

This is a terrifying situation. What to do?

We also have the challenge of recognizing our own dragons. This is our ye tang che.

“The ye part means totally, completely, and the rest of it means “exhausted.” Altogether, ye tang che means totally tired out. It describes the experience of complete hopelessness, of completely giving up hope. This is an important point….Ye tan che, however, is not so easily digested. It expresses the renunciation that’s essential for the spiritual path.”

It gives great relief to reach this moment. It is the most serious point. It is also the place to get real. Getting acquainted with our most hidden fears, terrors and inadequacies makes for quite a climb. The aspect of “totally tired out” is very powerful. First it is humbling. We have no games left to play. We also realize we are tired out of it all and when we can scrape ourselves off the surface of all our old beliefs we will embrace a beneficial change. It is only then that we can effectively serve the planet.

America is also experiencing ye tang che.

We knew as a nation we were sliding along. We never had a coup. Wasn’t for those South American countries? We never had our cities bombed to complete rubble. Wasn’t that in World War Two?

We were so invincible we did not even need to vote.

One year during the midterms a friend of mine who is a Tibetan Buddhist monk asked to go along while I went to vote. It ended up being a complicated process for him. The first thing he experienced was fear. He kept waiting for “the authorities” to show. I introduced him to the poll worker who assured him there were no authorities coming. She walked him through the voting process. He sat attentively looking around while I filled out my ballot.

As we were leaving, he asked: “Where are all the people coming to vote?” I had no answer. Turnout for that year was 17%.

This is our renunciation. This our place of hopelessness. We can’t outrun our karma.

We can call upon our own Naga protectors. We are the Nagas of Democracy. In union we rise up and just as St. George did, we face the dragons. We have lost our delusion that we are immune from a coup. There are still, however, people ignorant of the facts of the dangers. They do not see how big and dangerous the dragons are who roam our land. The oligarch owned legacy media in America will not show the truth. We have needed to develop our megaphone for some time. A lack of people hearing the truth lost us this election. Now people are figuring things out too late. The suffering has begun. We are creating history in our building of a system of writers, podcasters and social media entities who are informed and can articulate the situation. We can slay the dragon with information that is shared everywhere. Educating people about what is being torn apart is essential. The main thing is to be cooly passionate. We keep our heads. We strategize, calculate and respond with ferocity. Hating is a waste of energy.

Remember. We have our dragons also. Find them, learn from them and use them.

There are wise voices in America today. It seems to hold true that in a crisis the wisdom people show up. Read what they are saying. Form your own wisdom group and share information and way to push back on these deadly dragons.

We will prevail.

I have included a dragon from Maxfield Parrish.