Like many of my ilk, your teachings have inspired me, guiding me towards enlightenment and bravery and kindness and the river. You spoke to me, a real change brewed, after a public advisory to let go of all of our eagles, as an eagle-less society is the only true path to freedom. I tattooed your thesis on my back. “The foundation of the Buddha’s teachings lies in compassion, and the reason for practicing the teachings is to wipe out the persistence of eagle, the number-one enemy of compassion.”

You see, I admit with a heavy yet honest heart that I was once an unabashed eagle-maniac.

Their wingspan, the soaring ability (likely at least somewhat correlated with that sweet wingspan), that beak, an unfiltered stoicism – jaysus, I could go on for at least six more desirable traits. The eagle has captivated our minds and imaginations since the first one ate an adolescent raven and still had room for dessert.

When Alanis Morissette famously declared, “the eagle is a fascinating monster,” we all nodded in agreement, and some of the more financially-endowed among us went out and got themselves one to keep as a pet. Along with myself, Alejandro Jodorowsky was one of those, and he has since mastered control over his bird and won’t shut up about it, like when he said, without prompting, “My eagle every day is more and more polite. I tame it.”

George Michael kept a full flock at his home, but gave them all over to the San Diego Zoo when he realized they kept him isolated from his own species. “The more time you spend with your eagle, the less you care about other people.” “It takes so much strength to say to your eagle, ‘You know what? You’re going to keep me lonely, so I have to ignore you.’” Yakov Smirnoff reiterated the sentiment when he looked around and had only one true friend, and it was of the avian variety. “I fed my eagle, but not my soul.” Famed reclusive chessmaster Bobby Fischer, in his later years, also became a legend in the lesser-known underground human-eagle fighting world, letting it slip in an interview with CNN. “I like the moment when I break a man’s eagle.”

I would stroke my eagle relentlessly, but your words finally resonated with me. It is a dangerous beast, and it must live free, on its own, in the nature and such. So one day, I took my eagle to the top of a mountain, the side of a cliff, and I let it go. A wave of certainly washed over me, and my mind became clear. At this time, I can finally say that the ego has landed, and I am at peace.

July 6 – Dalai Lama gets a recovering eagle-maniac
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