The Festival of Lights
Happy Diwali, everyone!
While Diwali is popularly known as the "Festival of Lights", the most significant spiritual meaning is "the awareness of the inner light".
Central to Hindu philosophy is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Diwali is the celebration of this inner light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to one's true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With the realization of the Atman comes universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings Ananda (inner joy or peace).
The gunas are the underlying forces or tendencies which one needs to have unaffected, direct relation with in order to find effectiveness and righteousness in life: they are lines of potential and illuminate thought and action, thus the inner meaning of Diwali being the festival of lights.
Diwali celebrates this through festive fireworks, lights, flowers, sharing of sweets, and worship. While the story behind Diwali varies from region to region, the essence is the same - to rejoice in the inner light (Atman) or the underlying reality of all things (Brahman).
Diwali is celebrated on October 17 in 2009. I am advised by my Hindu friend, Kokila, that on that day, between the hours of 6-7pm, Sydney time, I should wash my credit cards and bank access cards and mark them in red (with crayon) with a swastika (a powerful Hindu mystical symbol, long predating its Nazi misuse by thousands of years). On Diwali, Kokila tells me, one should primarily invoke Lord Ganesh, requesting that He open all doorways for you and eliminate all obstacles in your path; and also the Goddess Lakshmi, primarily to request prosperity during the coming year, but also anything else you fancy, such as health, happiness, success in business, success in exams, etc.
May you know all blessings.
"OM"
