"Time is too exhausted to go on. Eternity locks itself in a circle. Everything changes, and only the dragons keep playing. He flies, outracing eternal winds. He is endless. He is great. He is the Golden Dragon of Knowledge. In constant movement and always outside of time itself, he carries truth that glistens playfully in a myriad of flecks on his ageless scales.
Don't frown. Look! This shining won't hurt your eyes. Breaking up Time, the dragon is getting closer. He is coming for you, he is coming to you to gift you - not with material treasures, but with the enlightening spirit of knowing and awareness. You can hide, you can run... Clever and cunning is the great dragon! When his head looks into your eyes, when he smells your fear, when his jaws are open to grab you... Do you, mortal, stand any chance of dodging his dashing advance? It's pointless to argue, the dragon knows its task. And here you are - in his jaws. You see the light of Truth, you feel its beauty and its heavy presence on your shoulders. Not everyone can persevere.
Golden Dragon is perfect because he gives everyone a chance to escape. If you have left him, deep sadness over lost knowledge and awareness encompasses you. Longing for the golden light of truth makes you regret your anger, your fear... But there is no time; the dragon keeps flying. Put away your doubts and regrets, and soon you will see the paws of the great dragon.
His grip is so strong that even eternity itself can't escape his golden paws. His head, however, is far ahead by now, and it sees the worlds you will never reach (because for you the Head is lost forever). But if you want to touch the golden scales of truth once more, just stand up straight, open your face to the wind, and wait for Dragon's paws...
But now you have to help him by holding on. You are together. If the grip of truth becomes too tight for you, if the weight of freedom feels like too much... You can always twist and turn in deception, wriggle out, and like a mendacious arrow dive down back to earth where everything is so good and so calm, where no winds blow in your face and no golden light of truth fills your eyes.
But once you are down there, an unbearable pain of loss rips your heart apart because there is no beauty without the sky, there is no truth without the golden shining of his wings. Life goes on, and power of time once more gets a hold of you. You are ready to pay any price to meet the dragon again, but it's too late - his paws are now touching those amazing worlds that are inaccessible to you. But still, there is his tail.
Flies in the skies eternal Dragon, giving you the third - and your last - chance. A bright, small, almost invisible chance to embrace the skies once again. His tail is flexible; like a rainbow it bends and flies and glides unpredictably. You go up to a hilltop, open your arms wide, and wait - let it be. The world is becoming empty because it has less and less of a dragon in it now. And here you go - the end of his tail, the last and the only important piece of luck on your life path.
You grabbed it! You caught your Chance. The head and the jaws could hold you even when you twisted; the paws could hold you simply if you stayed still; but the tail cannot hold you, so your only way now is to hold onto it with all your might. You have to hold it like it’s life itself, for there is nothing in the world except the shining of the golden scales of awareness...
If you try to relax now, loosen your grip a bit, if you fail to pay attention... Alas! Smooth and bright is the withdrawing tail of the dragon. The world is empty as if Death himself has passed over it. The only thing left for you is the golden trace in the skies - a mere memory of your ended flight.
That's what's left if you let go. But the others, who held on to Him, will receive the powers of the sky. They persevere, and the Golden Dragon of Knowledge welcomes them joyfully and coils into a circle till Eternity swallows them."
* * *
This legend was written down a long time ago by my teacher, Tamir Vadzhariev (translated by me), and he received it from sources whose roots go far into the times and stories pretty much lost to official "history". You can read it as a metaphor of course. I find it to be a useful reminder to all of us that some chances are crucial like survival, and the catch is that they will never repeat themselves.