Kamla: Lord Shiva can bring change

THE Opposition Leader says Hindu deity Lord Shiva should remind devotees of the need for change in their lives at a personal and national level. She conveyed this in a message on the occasion of Maha Shivratri (Shiva’s Big Night) which was observed on Monday.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar said Hinduism recognises three key ideas - creation, sustenance and dissolution. The creator is known as Lord Bramhadev, the one who sustains is Lord Vishnu, whilst dissolution is the role of Lord Shiva.

She said that at personal, community and national levels, people too perform these three functions, even as we must realise that not all that is created should be kept.

“Many aspects of existence should be dissolved. Change is necessary. Lord Shiva reminds us of the necessity for dissolution and renewal for transformation. Without change, renewal and transformation, people and nations may regress,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar that for devotees the night of Maha Shivratri is spent in the temple in the company of Lord Shiva, reflecting on our existence and identifying which aspects of our lives need renewal.

“The devotee enters at the time of sunset and emerges with the break of dawn, committed to removing the negative influences and adopting a path that is spiritually enlightening, supported by positive values. It is a night of rebirth, a night of personal reflection and identification of more positive pathways to improving one’s life.”

Likewise, a nation must also reflect on where it is as a nation, and its progress in creating human happiness. “Nations must also transform.” She said nations transform through their individual citizens and how they improve their collective consciousness about their fellow human beings.

“Maha Shivratri is an annual opportunity for such resolve. Nothing is possible without God’s will. Tonight, we pray for the intervention of Shiva in our personal lives and in our nation’s future. There is much that needs to be dissolved and much to change. May our prayers to Shiva, whose very name means auspiciousness, bless us all with peace, prosperity and success.”