"Anyone who goes openly on a journey into the interior, who withdraws from the ceaseless agitation of everyday life and pursues the kind of training -- satipathhana, yoga, Jesus Prayer, or something similar -- without which genuine self-knowledge cannot be obtained, is accused of selfishness and of turning his back on his social duties. Meanwhile, world crises multiply and everybody deplores the shortage, or even total lack, of "wise" men or women, unselfish leaders, trustworthy counselors, etc."
-- E.F. Schumacher
There is a treasure to be found in the heart hidden from view, solace and informed. Wisdom flies from the beer bottle like fruit flies out of a bag of moldy bananas but in the land of swine the one eyed pig is king. When drug addiction is the initiation into normalcy then the outcast is sober and reviled. In a neighborhood of heroin junkies, the gypsy with the bongo drums is the outsider. The clouds of conformity drench the parched land with tears while the elk nurse their young in burned out hollows.