[Kristina]

Thank you for your generous and considered comments Shaahayda. You bring such rich material to contemplate.

Your question about if societies have changed through mythic ideas, dreams and symbols points me to Campbell in Myths of Light where he writes, “He backed away and then, acting as though it were an inconsequential matter, he said, ‘Everyone must come out of his exile in his own way.’ Well, that might have been perfectly all right from Dr. Buber’s standpoint. But what struck me immediately was that the whole point of Oriental wisdom and mythic themes is that we are not in exile – that the god is within you. You can’t be exiled from it. All that can happen is that you can fail to know it, that you don’t realise it, that you haven’t found a way to open your consciousness to this presence that is right within you.” So for me the question is more about how do we release the idea of being in exile, and then as members of society, create from this presence of the god within us.

To your final question, and again to Campbell, “And that is the first doctrine of Buddhism: it cannot be taught. No experience can be taught. All that can be taught is the way to an experience.” How do we get into the daily ritual of asking what’s sacred in this moment? (during many moments throughout the day)

Truth, beauty and justice have a greater chance of flourishing when we live in alignment with the patterns of nature and the illumination the archetypal world bestows. For one reason, this enables us to fixate less on prediction and concern ourselves more with presence. We may then better meet the future as we learn to make the mysterious and the unknown our permanent home. Rather than constantly being consumed with what’s next, we instead focus on what’s sacred. But for another reason, a poetically rich perspective honours the sacredness of all things – the earth and all her creatures – and holds an increasingly expanding vision of the wider cosmos. From here we must begin, but what is the inner and outer invitation we each must first make to cross this threshold?

Very best, Kristina.