​Times of crisis 42 – playing dinosaur

Playing dead can be a great way of escaping attack, especially useful at a time of crisis where there can be danger everywhere. The problem is that playing dead leaves one rather vulnerable. I would like to propose that a possible solution could be that instead of playing dead one plays extinct. In this way one retains the harmlessness of being dead while remaining alive. If one considers the ideal in this respect then I believe one will play dinosaur. Such creatures are far from vulnerable and yet, being extinct, remain harmless, as harmless even as one dead and gone.  

If this all seems a little strange then, to avoid embarrassment, one may need only to merely hint at playing dinosaur in order to at least unnerve the attacker. Placing the hand behind the back in the way illustrated in the picture below may serve as a ‘hinted stegosaurus’, for example. 



Or a snake-like gesture of the arm, flowing gracefully upwards and forwards, can serve as a 'hinted brontosaurus'. 



And if one cannot take this at all seriously then one will realise that making a joke is one way of coping when one finds oneself under attack and scared out of one’s wits.

​​I offer this for your reflection

Ajahn Kalyāno
http://www.openthesky.co.uk

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