Artist: F. J. Monroy
The thought process of our consciousness is not often seen. A picture of a monk meditating usually shows a serene and blissful look on the monk’s reposed face. The dragon is a mythical creature that appears in antiquity, and survives in modern pop culture. In some cultures the dragon symbolizes the primal force as well as the universal nature, and are said to be wiser than humans. If they are wiser than humans, why do we read about the dramatic deeds of heroic persons, slaying the dragon and triumphing over evil.
The thrilling tales of slaying the strange creatures are about conquering the darker side and getting rid of the lower nature to be free of evil. The history of dragons is very fascinating. The dragon is said to have originated from the crocodile. They both have a scaled body, a long tale and short legs, but the crocodile is not as exciting as a dragon, and does not have wings, or breathe fire.
Inside of us are many errors in the way we think, the superstitions we hold, the myths we believe in. The act of refining our consciousness is to slay the dragons, the negative elements, and replace them with more evolved concepts. When we start to practice meditation and develop our consciousness, initially explained as the mind, we have to experience our innermost thoughts and feelings. The ancient primordial forces of nature within us are awakened, the dragon and the serpent are symbols of unraveling the fire of life within us. This fire, or energy, is our life force. When we focus our attention on this force we have an ability to create great good, and also great evil. Our consciousness becomes refined through meditation, and combined with intelligence allows us to elevate ourselves beyond evil into greater good.
I learned from this by reading what the dragon symbolizes. I’ve also recently let go of all superstitions. It’s interesting how people follow superstitions and avoid them making them feel they have power to avoid a dangerous circumstance by not, let’s say, not walking under that ladder……….
Superstitions have a place in the mind because we allow it. At the basis of superstition is the fear that if you do not obey the superstition something will happen. It is the fragile mind that is willing to listen to the superstition and carefully avoids walking under the ladder. The strong mind rejects this as nonsense and walks under the ladder.