Jack, the Dragon Slayer

Once upon a time, in a not so far away place, and not so long ago time, there lived a young boy named Jack.

Jack was a frail lad, who wore thick glasses, didn’t much care for sports, was sick a lot, and was often bullied by the other boys. 

But Jack had one notable thing:  He could see dragons. 

As a kid, Jack never met anyone else who could see dragons.  He would point them out and people would just say, “Sure, Jack.  I see them too.”  But they said it in such a way that Jack knew they didn’t; that they were just saying that to shut him up. 

But Jack knew.  There are dragons everywhere. Big ones, little ones, fat ones, skinny ones, red ones, blue ones, green ones. Some that bite, some that claw, some that beat you with their tails and wings, and some that burn you with their fiery breath.  Jack knew you can't escape them. And for the most part you can't kill them.  But Jack thought SOMETHING could be done about the dragons.  So he looked, and he thought.  He looked and he thought.  But nothing came to him. 

Well, nothing but laughter and derision from the other kids.  And trips to all kinds of doctors – M.D.s and Ph.D’s.  But Jack couldn’t be persuaded that the dragons were just his imagination, that they were all in his head.  Because he saw how other people were affected by the dragons.  How the dragons made other people uncomfortable.  Or sad.  Or angry.  Or mean.  Or . . . well, maybe even crazy.

Then, when Jack was in High School, a literature class read a book – a fictionalized history about a guy who lived a long time ago, and who purportedly not only saw dragons, but came up with a theory about why we have dragons, about where the dragons come from.  He also figured out a way to slay some, to tame some, and to [vanquish, calm, conquer, quieten, tranquilize, trounce, domesticate, dispense with] the rest.  But, this guy in the book also knew, and pointed out, that there are enough dragons around that it is safe to say, “There will always be dragons!”  But also that we can make them leave us alone.  We can do that; we can deal with the dragons very effectively by practicing the Dragon Dispensing Discipline this guy in the book recommended.

Well, Jack was impressed.  So he started investigating, and found that there really was a guy a long time ago who figured out how to deal with dragons, and it was the eight-factored Dragon Dispensing Discipline that would do it. 

So Jack started practicing the Dragon Dispensing Discipline, and sure enough, it worked!  Over time, with regular practice, Jack became a Dragon Slayer of the first order.  But as it turns out, Jack learned, we can only slay those dragons that are after us.  We can only slay our own personal dragons; not those of other people. 

However, Jack was convinced that the Dragon Dispensing Discipline would work for anyone and everyone who practiced it religiously.  So he began to talk about the Discipline to anyone who would listen.  And sometimes even to those who didn’t.  And he was right.  Those who practiced had no more trouble with dragons. 

If you’ve got personal dragons you want to deal with, but don’t know how, send us an email.  ambms.sasana@gmail.com.  We’ll be teaching the Dragon Dispensing Discipline in Des Moines, Iowa on June 11, 2016.