The 3 underlying forces in nature:
1) The force of destruction
2) The force of maintenance
3) The force of creation
For more on this visit: http://www.yogabasics.com/learn/the-3-gunas-of-nature.html
All 3 forces are present in every thing in nature including humans. Humans have a unique ability to alter the amounts of each of these within ourselves and our environments simply by what we put our attention on.
The force of destruction takes over as a default whenever we don’t put enough of our attention on something or when we put too much attention on something. For more on this visit: http://www.andyharrisonmusic.com/understanding-balance-in-7-bullet-points-2/
For example if I don’t clean my kitchen counter for 2 weeks the force of destruction will become obvious with all the dishes and grime that would pile up. Likewise if I become compulsive about cleaning my counter and scrub it everyday for 4 hours, the Formica (or whatever it’s made of) will start to wear off and the force of destruction will again be apparent (not to mention the neglect to other areas of my life because of my compulsive cleaning).
The world is fucked up because a small group of people have found ways to benefit from the force of destruction. They have set up intricate systems that provide them material benefits from humanity putting not enough attention or too much attention on things. These systems encourage people to shift their attention in ways that bring out the force of destruction on our planet and in the process provide the people who set up the systems a constant flow of material benefits and further control (simply the ability to continue to do this more easily and to a greater extent in the future).
For example (I’ll use the cleaning metaphor again). So if I continue to neglect my kitchen counter let’s say for months, the grime and dirt might become so great that I can’t get it clean on my own and have to hire a cleaning company. Let’s say I don’t have the extra money but because I want to move to another apartment without loosing my security deposit, I put it on a credit card. Now every month that I keep that balance I pay interest which requires more of my energy and focus each month to attempt to earn the money to pay not only the original amount but now the interest on top. If I don’t put a significant amount of focus on paying that bill, the interest keeps adding up and I get further behind.
Same thing might happen if I were a compulsive cleaner and put too much attention on cleaning and wore a whole in my kitchen counter. I might have to have the Formica replaced and put that on a credit card.
This is an example of a system set up to benefit from the force of destruction operating in my life. I triggered the system because I didn’t put enough attention on cleaning my counter or I put too much attention on cleaning my counter.
These systems are everywhere and are designed to take advantage of this natural law. We ultimately have a tremendous amount of power over our own lives and the future of the planet because most of the time we can decide where we put our attention. Simply being aware that the systems are there and are not put in place for our benefit is a good starting point-don’t you think?