By Vidya Ishaya
"Except ye become as
little children,
ye cannot enter the Kingdom of God"
Remember that one? Did you ever see little
children playing in a sandbox or on the beach? They create
wonderful castles, great monuments, roads and aqueducts
between cities in their sandbox. They create their own worlds
of sand.
But then with glee and hand-clapping, they
kick their castles to dust, destroy their roads, eliminate
their aqueducts and start all over again with nothing but a
blank pile of sand, happily creating another universe.
Can you imagine a child stressing out
because the sand palace starts to erode as the waves come to
chip away at it? Well, maybe a little. But how long does she
hold onto it? Does she start building a wave blocker? When the
rain comes, does she design a roof to protect her creation?
Does a child imagine he’s safe if a building stands, but
becomes fearful for his own existence if the building starts
falling?
No. Children don’t try to hold on to
anything. They let whatever happens happen. Yes, they are the
creators of their play universe, but they’re the maintainers
and also the destroyers of their creation, all in great fun,
pleasure and enjoyment.
What
is the Difference
Between the Outlook of a Child and That of an Adult?
As adults, we’ve been taught just how
important and significant it is to hold on to our creations
and never let them deteriorate. It’s great to build a house
or an organization, but it’s not great when it starts to
change (and it’s especially bad when there’s a threat of
dissolution.) The more we can hold onto "exactly the way
things should be," then we’re sure we’re safe and
secure. And very happy, right?
Well, not exactly. What we actually see and
experience is that the more we hold on, the more we try to
keep things exactly as they are, as they’ve always been, the
more we suffer. Because it is the nature of the universe (and
everything in it) to be created, maintained for a while, and
then destroyed. Everything! But this does not have to be a
source of suffering. Not at all!
The truth is – you create your world
around you. And you maintain it. And you destroy it. Consider
the body you reside in. You imagine that you have to keep it
safe at all times, to prevent it from being injured or
destroyed at all costs. The keyword here is
"imagine." We imagine that we know the truth. We
imagine that we know what’s going on all around us when the
real truth is something different than we imagine.
In truth, we create our body, we maintain
it for awhile, and then we choose to leave it, exactly at the
perfect moment according to a choice we made long ago. And
this is precisely what is happening to everything else in our
universe.
When you let go, and experience the world
as a child experiences the sandbox, then you are open to the
Truth: what is real never ends. The reality is that you are
eternally the master of creation -- and destruction.
You create, you enjoy your creation for awhile and then you
dissolve it, so that you can do it all over again. Forever.
Why?
Does Nothing Matter? Isn’t Anything Significant?
Look at what was on the earth 10,000 years
ago. Look at what’s here now. Imagine what will be here
10,000 years from now. All totally different, all totally
changed. What does that mean about all the things we hold
dear, all that has such importance to us? Do we just give up
in frustration because the world is meaningless and nothing
matters?
No. Of course not. We once again become as
little children and see the joy, the beauty, the fun in what
we’ve created right now. And then we let it all go,
in glee, like the child who destroys his sand castle with a
bucket of water. Because we know we can create again, always
fresh, always new, with a burst of excitement and enjoyment.
What it all comes down to is: what do you
choose? Do you choose to hold on tightly to everything exactly
as it always has been, experiencing stress, sorrow and
frustration when everything begins to change, as it must?
Or do you choose to live life from a place of joy and
laughter, happily accepting everything as it unfolds in front
of you, whether it looks like creation or destruction?
It really is just a simple choice, and
everyone is making the choice, in every moment. What do you
choose?
You can see more of the play of Vidya
Ishaya at www.awakeningpath.com
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