DIWALI - Celebration of Perfection…
No other festival unites Indians around the world, as does Deepavali. A single diya or lamp holds infinite beauty and hope. Diwali is a celebration of victory over evil or darkness and the coming of a New Year. But if we probe further, what is this darkness we want to remove? Light means to follow a virtuous path such that our thoughts are always pure in heart, our words are sweet and peaceful and bring joy to the listener and our actions are always beneficial first to ourselves, and to others as well as the environment. Darkness on the other hand is when our thoughts are negative and when manifested in words or actions bring hurt and sorrow at every step. In reality, evil or darkness does not have an identity of its own – it exists due to a lack of goodness or light. Knowledge, power and all that is pure, are very real characteristics since they are part of us, perhaps dormant yet existing. The Festival of Lights is the fight against evil forces and creation of peace and happiness. Diwali conjures up a number of things in the mind's eye – sweets, new clothes, account books, Goddess Lakshmi, fireworks etc. So instead of celebrating Diwali, LET'S EXPERIENCE DIWALI.As we clean our homes, let's clean our minds and intellects too.As we wear new clothes, let's also discard our old, unwanted, disturbing traits of anger, jealousy, worry.... and emerge our new but original traits of peace, love, bliss and happiness.
Tonight we will settle our old account books and begin new, simultaneously let us settle our old karmic accounts, any unpleasant relationships and begin our relationships in a new way.
We are all aware of the pollution caused by firecrackers, but it is Diwali, we need to burn crackers, so why not burn all the crackers of evil traits within ourselves - this burning will in fact purify our minds and the environment.
As we exchange sweets let us also exchange meaningful sweet words, good wishes and blessings. If we really experience Diwali we will succeed in invoking Goddess Lakshmi. Her name stems from the word, 'Laksh' meaning ' the GOAL', implying that she stands for the ultimate goal of perfection that human beings can reach. The 'wealth' that she has to offer is of knowledge and virtues; a divine character alone can attain prosperity and peace.
The key lies in lighting a single 'diya' - my own conscient awareness ....