We need to be a Steve Irwin of sorts, braving the deep, wrestling our crocodiles, neither to cage nor to kill them, but to harness their power, reworking it through the lens of conscious attention.

By working with fear, we release it, recognizing that it is not who we really are. By being conscious of the stillness within, we can bring darkness into light; only then can we transform its power which does not mean eliminating the fear, but making it serve us like a White Tiger-- watchful, mindful and present.

And that is why I am writing these letters which have become a container of sorts, an incubator in which my fears and yours can be dissolved, fermented and distilled by years and the alchemic eye.

When you are old enough to understand these words, you will be more temperate and much wiser. The mettle you were born with will still be there, undiminished, but mellowed, tempered from its brassy vigor into a softer glow, like moonshine for night travelers.

You probably would be a father by then and you would understand what it means to live beyond the self. Being a parent has an inevitable way of rupturing the ego; it pulls you out of your familiar identity,out of self absorption. Being a parent nurtures a sense of infinity beyond time. It places squarely in your lap the responsibility of parenting--and that is to help the child acknowledge the power of darkness, channel it into light so that one day he too can pass it on, this legacy of the light.