What's Your Motive?

From the Tarot of the Crone, the Three of Wands; from the Transforming Dragons deck, Ogrostov:

          The snakes in the cauldron represent the drive to create and expand; two of them seem content to stay where they are, but the third rises upward. It is so easy to stick with what's familiar because it's convenient and the effort required is minimal. But a lot can be missed by not being willing to go beyond the daily trudge. Yet what lies beneath the motivation to develop and grow is important. Ogrostov is the dragon of self-importance, and everything he does is designed to fluff up his image. But such motivation does not last long enough to make it through the challenges that new experiences or projects require. It's better to be driven by something with a more honorable purpose and benefit if anything of worth is to be created.

How to gain, how to keep, how to recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive of all they do, and of all they are willing to endure. ~William James

Flip Side

From the Tarot of the Crone, the Seven of Swords; from Transforming Dragons, 'Ogrostov:'

          The companion book assigns this phrase to the Crone's Seven of Swords: "I travel roads no one has seen. I create worlds of joy and pain." It suggests the amazing talent of the mind to imagine what was and what might be. It can replay moments in the past that still shred our heart into tatters or create a peaceful beach with the sounds of waves crashing onto the sand. Imagination can be our creative muse or the demon that keeps us in dark places. Ogrostov believes that no one is ever in a position to tell him what to do. He represents arrogant pride with a mind open only to those who readily agree with his ideas. Anyone who has that much false pride is likely to also have an equal amount of deep-seated fear. Both these cards remind me how much I am grateful for lojong, a Tibetan form of mind training. Through such training, the unwanted obstacles in life become the raw material for awakening. Pema Chodron explains how it can benefit both the mind and heart:

It is unconditional compassion for ourselves that leads naturally to unconditional compassion for others. If we are willing to stand fully in our own shoes and never give up on ourselves, then we will be able to put ourselves in the shoes of others and never give up on them. True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our kinship with all beings.