You have no doubt experienced the loss or destruction of something you held dear in your life. You probably even mourned the loss or feared the destruction of something you once had. But if you take a closer look at the principle of destruction, you will see that it has another side to it. The other side of destruction, dissolution, loss and death is in fact creation, renewal and rebirth.
Destruction is a feature that is integral to the grand process of life. It is as necessary as creation is. These phenomena go hand in hand.
Consider this: as each day progresses, the destruction of morning is the creation of noon and the destruction of noon is the creation of night. Similarly in the case of a wooden table for example, the destruction of a tree was the creation of wooden planks, the destruction of the individual planks was the creation of the table, and one day the destruction of the table would probably be the creation of a fire. Thus destruction and creation are inseparable. They are like two sides of a coin.
There is a third phenomenon that is interlinked with these two, and this is the aspect of maintenance. In the creation and destruction of morning, noon and night, the changing day is maintained. And in the creation and destruction of the tree, planks, tables, and fire the process of transformation or changing form is maintained.
This understanding was well captured in Hindu philosophy and each of these stages was represented by a deity. Brahma is the god of creation, Vishnu the deity of maintenance, and Shiva the god of destruction. They are merely different representations of the same cosmic energy, and are essentially one and the same.
Although Shiva is the deity of destruction he enjoys about the highest respect amongst all the Hindu gods! This goes back to a deep understanding that there is a creative force hidden in destruction. In fact Shiva is also worshiped through the ‘shiva lingum’ a spherical stone representing the phallus, or the creative, reproductive aspect of Shiva. Another representation of Shiva is Nataraja, the dancing god engaged in the wildly energetic eternal cosmic dance of creation and destruction.
You too could take a page from the palm leaves of ancient Hindu scriptures! The lesson for all of us to remember is to stop hanging on!
Life and the universe is a constantly changing entity. Everything – absolutely everything – is in an eternal state of flux. Change is the only constant. Transformation and evolution is the overriding order of the day.
You too are constantly changing and evolving. Yet there is an aspect within you – the ego personality, which often attaches to form. The ego often lives in fear, and resorts to attachment. Attachment to form in a universe of ever changing form is a sure route to suffering. The opposite of attachment is off course renunciation. And with the dawning of renunciation, or ‘letting go’ you literally ‘go with the flow’ of life, and the beautiful bounty it has to offer.
Seeing loss or destruction as evil or tragic is only seeing half the picture. The complete picture is one of finely-tuned perfection. Even death is a mere stage in this perfect eternal process. Our understanding of death as something that is final and a complete ending is a false idea which exists only in the human mind. Again, it is seeing only half the picture. Death and destruction are actually processes of transformation in a universe that is continually and perpetually transforming itself as it grows into higher states of perfection and consciousness.
So when something is being destroyed and it seems beyond your control, you would do best to let go and embrace the destruction, knowing that it holds the embryo of something new and improved. And when you let go, you let God!
