Cocoon
cocoon: "an enclosed familiar world in which we can hide or go to sleep...shield ourselves from the vision of Great Eastern Sun." "The way of cowardice is to embed ourselves in a cocoon...perpetuate habitual patterns. When we are constantly recreating our basic patterns of behavior and thought, we never have to leap into fresh air or onto fresh ground." (pg 61-62) "In cocoon there is no idea of light at all, until we experience some longing for openness ...
When we begin to examine that comfortable darkness-look at it, smell it, feel it-we find it is claustrophobic. So the first impulse draws us away form the darkness towards the light of the Great Eastern Sun" is a longing for ventilation. As soon as we begin to sense the possibility of fresh air, we realize that our arms and legs are being restricted. We war to stretch out and walk, dance even jump. We realize that there is an alternative to cocoon: we discover that we could be free from that trap.
With that longing for fresh air, for a breeze of delight, we open our eyes, and we begin to look for an alternative environment for our cocoon. And to our surprise, we begin to see light, even though it may be hazy at first. The tearing of the cocoon begins at that point. ...when we look back to the cocoon and see the suffering that takes place in the world of the coward, that inspires us to go forward in our journey of warriorship." (pg 62) (See The Great Eastern Sun).
