A traditional Swedish story gives a sense of the next phase of the journey within.
Because of the mishaps of her parents, a young princess named Aris must be betrothed to a fearful dragon. When the king and queen tell her she becomes frightened for her life. But recovering her wits, she goes out beyond the market to seek a wise woman, who has raised twelve children and twenty nine grandchildren and knows the ways of dragons and Men.
The wise woman tells Aris that she indeed must marry the dragon, but that there are proper ways to approach him. She then gives instructions for the wedding night. In particular, the princess is bidden to wear ten beautiful gowns, one on top of the other.
The wedding takes place. A feast is held in the palace, after which the dragon carries the princess of to his bed chamber. When the dragon advances towards his bride, she stops him, saying that she must carefully remove her wedding attire before offering her heart to him. And he too, she adds (instructed by the wise women), must properly remove his attire. To this he willingly agrees.
“As I take off each layer of my gown, you must also remove a layer.” Then, taking off the first gown, the princess watches as the dragon sheds his outer layer of scaly armour. Though it is painful, the dragon has done this periodically before. But then the princess removes another gown, and then another. Each time the dragon finds he too must claw off a deeper layer of scales. By the fifth gown the dragon begins to weep copious tears at the pain. Yet the princess continues.
With each successive layer the dragon’s skin becomes more tender and his form softens. He becomes lighter and lighter. When the princess removes her tenth gown, the dragon releases the last vestige of dragon form and emerges as a man, a fine prince whose eyes sparkle like a child’s, released at last from the ancient spell of his dragon form. Princess Aris and her new husband are then left to the pleasures of their bridal chamber, to fulfil the last advice of the wise women with twelve children and twenty nine grandchildren.
- As in a dream, all the figures in such a story can be found within us. We find the scaly dragon and the attending princess, the wise grandmother, the irresponsible king and queen, the hidden prince, and the unknown one who cast his enchantment long ago. What this story reveals from the start is that the journey is not about going into the light. The forces of our human history and entanglement are tenacious and powerful. The path to inner freedom requires passing through them. Receiving grace, opening to illumination, becoming wise has not been easy even for the masters. It is described as a difficult purification: cleansing, letting go, and stripping away. Suzuki Roshi called it a “general house cleaning of the mind.”
It is painful to cast of our own scales, and the dragons guiding the way are fierce. It requires the inspiration of angles; it requires diving into the ocean of tears.
I absolutely love this story and text above which I have taken from a great book called; AFTER THE ECSTASY, THE LAUNDRY. By Jack Kornfield.
I have described and come to know these dragon layers as the onion skins of my Self. We can only peel away these layers through acceptance, awareness and acknowledgment. Depending on the size of the onion depends on the amount of tears we must shed. This story encapsulates the spiritual path perfectly. If you do not go within you go without. So many people decide not to go within because they don’t even know it’s an option. I read recently, that a Tibetan Teacher at a lecture he was conducting warned those who were new that a true spiritual path is arduous and demanding. He suggested those with doubts not embark, “if you haven’t started, its best not to begin.”
Maybe so but something to allow in is, at any time we come across the opportunity to shed the unconscious skins we have added to our own. We should take them without even thinking of the journey ahead. For me there is no other way to deep happiness free from all fear and negativity. Our emotional experiences most of the time haven’t been in our control because we are unaware, numb and unconscious to our own actions. We live in a world controlled by others. We live in a world of engraved habitually conditioned mind patterns which are not of our own. It is these mind patterns that need stripping away, these conditioned beliefs have to be questioned and removed. In order to access the depth of love that has been imprisoned deep within us we have to confront the dragons, strip away the onions skins and connect with the core of our existence.
A friend just said to me it’s just not that Simple Simon, you’ve simplified it. These Dragons are fierce, this is deep ego control and pain that people are fighting, and they are scared. My immediate response was “it is simple, once we understand we are creating the dragons, we are creating the fear and ferociousness of the pain we hold onto. Once we realise when fear is confronted it disappears then it really is quite simple to say goodbye to these dragons that have a hold over us. We are creating the dragon.
When I use the word simple it’s not to make it sound easy. Some may look at my journey so far with disbelief and focus on the struggles. But without those struggles there would be no path to embark on, without having fear to accept and release we would not have a path to follow. With this in mind and taking on board the idea that we create our own fear then having created it we can let it go. Its the realisation of this that gives birth to the simplicity.
There comes a moment when self awareness, acceptance and love make it all so simple. Simplicity is divinity.
Hope you enjoyed the story as much as I. The book is great. Treat yourself. http://tinyurl.com/ybhraxn
Love and light
Simon
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