Spiritual Growth: Finding The Joy In Your Universe

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 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. 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 that 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 a while 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 is totally different; all is 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?

Vidya Ishaya is a teacher at the Ishayas' Ascension. Please visit http://www.ishaya.com for more information.