Explanation of "Teachings"

Please read and contemplate the post entitled "Teachings" before reading the following:

Author’s Note: Due to the esoteric nature of the allegory, a partial explanation follows.

• Teachers and Teachings:
  

  
  The work has three teachers: the Grail, the dragonfly, and the drunk. All communicate distinct—nonetheless related—ideas regarding the origin of the individual. The Grail communicates an imminent theistic perspective: the Grandfather is Creator-God, and gave the main character himself; all that was upon birth. This “all” is communicated through the rocking horse. However, the main character is dissatisfied upon realizing that the idea of himself as a gift implies a limit to his possible form; he wants the ability to expand to a magnificent living horse despite being a charming wooden rocking horse. The dragonfly (dragonfly; nature; pantheism) then communicates a roughly Buddhist perspective. She discusses an ultimate non-existence of self, wherein each person is simply the coincidence of processes in space and time. However, her view is not entirely mechanistic; she teaches the main character that if he acts (leans back), he (his shadow) can transcend normal existence (move onto the rock). The drunk then enters to communicate a rather existentialist perspective. He is on a rock, the symbol of transcendence. The Greek myth of Persephone is referenced, wherein Hades traps Persephone for seven months each year by convincing her to eat seven pomegranate seeds. The main character has “climbed onto the rock,” and the drunk seeks to prevent a regression (he seems the first evangelical existentialist!) for twelve months each year. He succeeds. The verbal exchange is standard-issue existentialism: profound recognition of personal responsibility and empowerment, and that true existence can only be had through such proactivity.
  

  
  

• Self-realization:
  

  
  With each teacher, the main character achieves a higher self-knowledge: he sees himself not at all in the Grail; he sees only his shadow in the stream; he sees himself in full clarity in the mirror at the end. Expansion of worldview increases self-knowledge.
  

  
  

• Wine Imagery and Harmony:
  

  
  The main character’s motion from staring at the outside of the Grail to drinking therefrom demonstrates growing spirituality in expansion to the world (in new teachings) and to himself (in self-realization). Only upon his first conflict with religion—the conflict involving the horses—can he delve deeply into religion. Notice that there is no condemnation of any teacher; in fact, notice that they cooperate: the drunk transcends to the rock and drinks much wine; the pantheistic dragonfly bestows a teaching of responsibility and fills his Grail; the Grail lends itself as a tool for the dragonfly (in the stream) and the drunk (as the receptacle of his parting gift). At the close, the main character equally considers each teacher. He rises (action: drunk), exits (nature: dragonfly), and drinks (wine: Grail).