By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

A friend gave me a gift that came with a stack of instructions. "You gotta check this out," she said. "It's so amazing."

The reading material accompanied a round charm of the Hindu god Shiva Nataraja, lord of the dance. As long as Shiva dances, the essays explained, the universe will be. When Shiva stops, it's all over.

It's not just any old dance; it's the dance of life and death, of creation and destruction.

With so much to take care of, Shiva has four arms, each with its own assignment.

In one hand Shiva holds a drum representing creation and manifestation. Another shows a handful of flames, symbolizing destruction. A third hand is raised, palm facing forward and held flat in a blessing that means protection and "fear not." The fourth hand points down to the raised left foot. The foot symbolizes taking the next step, moving forward. The hand pointing to the foot means the removal of obstacles, the release from the cycle of birth and death.

The symbolism of the image is quite detailed and complex, but one thing in particular seems very direct and straight-forward. Shiva's right foot is firmly planted on someone's back.

As you might imagine, the guy Shiva is squashing is a bad dude. He's described as the demon of forgetfulness, the embodiment of evil, the epitome of indifference, ignorance, complacency and laziness.

Shiva, being the god of the cycle of creation and destruction, has to vanquish the oppressive power of inertia in order for things to work as they should. Only by subduing this demon can Shiva liberate the world.

It's an idea that has been expressed across time, across country and culture and religion.

A quote from Galatians in the Bible says, "For every man shall bear his own burden."

"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" said Britain's Edmund Burke in the 1700s.

"Each day, earn your living by honest hard work" wrote Dr. Mikao Usui, the Christian founder of Usui Reiki school of healing in the early 1900s.

"The only menace is inertia" said Nobel Prize-winning poet Saint-John Perse in the 1920s.

"Just do it," Nike told us in the 1990s.

"Pray to God but swim for the shore," Dr. Phil says on his syndicated television show.

Yet we complain and complain that stuff is messed up in our town and complain even louder that we're just too tired or stressed or put out to do anything about it.

So the cigarette butt gets tossed out the car window or the racist comment gets willfully ignored. The unruly kid gets placated instead of corrected and the neighbor's late night sobbing brawls go unreported. Humbug. Tired. Tomorrow. When I get time. And each time, that bad little dude wiggles happily under Shiva's foot, still alive and causing trouble.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.